Brad Pitt, Gay Rights Advocate

Brad Pitt, actor, philanthropist, father of six and one half of Hollywood's hottest couple, is adding a new title to the end of his name - activist.

Pitt, whose new movie Burn After Reading was released on September 12, is taking a stand against discrimination by donating $100,000 to the civil liberties organization, Californians Against Eliminating Basic Rights, the group responsible for spearheading the movement to stop California's Proposition 8 from passing.

Proposition 8 is a California initiative slated to appear on the 2008 California General Election ballot and is designed to eliminate the right of same sex couples to marry. As of fall, 2008, same sex marriage is only recognized in California and Masschusetts.

Brad Pitt, who famously declared his intent to marry longtime girlfriend, Angelina Jolie, only after marriage became available to all Americans, is now one of the most visible proponents of equal rights and gay marriage.

Denzel Washington Leads VIP Crusade for Boys and Girls Club of America

Academy Award winner, Denzel Washington, announced this week that he, along with a star-studded cast of athletes, musicians and celebrities, will partner with the Boys and Girls Club of America to launch a new youth advocacy campaign called BE GREAT.

BE GREAT was created to address the serious dangers facing today’s youth, including academic failure, gang violence, teen pregnancy, poverty, drugs, weapons in schools, obesity and inadequate familial support. The BE GREAT campaign, which formally urges politicians and citizens to become a part of the solution to the American youth crisis, marks the first time in Boys and Girls Club history that alumni of its organization, 57% of whom credit the Club with saving their lives, are coming together to further the generation-changing efforts of the 102 year-old organization.

Washington, who says the Boys and Girls Club dramatically changed his own life, will be joined in the fight by fellow celebrities and Boys and Girls Club alumni Muhammad Ali, Swin Cash, Bill Clinton, Bill Cosby, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Michael Jordan, Queen Latifah, Mario Lopez, John Mellencamp, Edward James Olmos, Smokey Robinson, John Singleton, Ruben Studdard, Usher, Courtney Vance, Mark Wahlberg, and Kerry Washington.

The Boys and Girls Club of America is the nation’s largest youth development network. For more information about the Boys and Girls Club BE GREAT advocacy campaign, click here.

Oakland Natives Give Back

The Oakland Natives Give Back Fund (ONGBF) held their 1st Annual Back To School Youth Expo in August to give back to the city of Oakland, while empowering youth with what they consider to be the building block of success – education.

Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) and the City of Oakland partnered with OGNBF to give over 730 book bags with school supplies at Oakland City Hall as part of the OUSD's Attend and Achieve campaign. The organization also received support from the Future Foundation, Usher’s New Look Foundation, The Lost Ones, and the Effective Teachers for Oakland Task Force.

More than 900 people attended Youth Expo 2008, where they enjoyed an afternoon filled with fun activities, gifts and entertainment. Youth learned about the importance of education as well as violence prevention and public safety as part of the city of Oakland’s Measure Y campaign.

The event provided of a variety of entertainment and appearances by celebrities and professional athletes which included: the Fashion Rocks youth fashion show, spoken word artists Ise Lyfe and Oakland native Jimmy Reign, dance trio Total Package, Sacramento Kings’ Forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Boston Celtics’ Leon Powe , San Francisco 49ers’ Allen Rossum, and Oakland natives MTV News Host Sway Calloway, Tony! Toni! Tone! recording artist Dwayne Wiggins and his nephew, 13-year-old Ali-Khan Lochin, who served as the DJ.

Motivational speeches were given by various city and school officials, including Oakland Chief of Staff Leslie Littleton, Director of Education Kitty Epstein, OUSD State Administrator Vincent Matthews and OUSD Interim Superintendent Roberta Mayor. Other notables included speaker Keith L. Brown, who served as the event’s master of ceremonies and entrepreneur Michael Parker, founder of Lifeskills 411.

Oakland Natives Give Back Fund was co-founded by Delicia “Dee Dee” Abdur-Rahim, Nyeisha DeWitt and Tameka Raymond (all natives of Oakland) who want to be an example to all Oakland natives by declaring that “your commitment to the community in which you reside should not supersede your contribution to the community in which you were reared”. Currently, ONGBF is fiscally sponsored by the Future Foundation.

Uptown Liz founder, Ramona Russell, was happy to volunteer at this event by passing out book bags to the eager students. To support education by shopping, go to the education page on Uptown Liz.

Photo captions: Top left photo - the crowd at the Youth Expo 2008. Bottom right photo - Co-founders Tameka Raymond (left), Delicia "Dee Dee" Abdur-Rahim and Nyeisha DeWitt.

Wendy Brandes Auctions Necklace for Stephanie Nielson

A retailer of Uptown Liz, Wendy Brandes, who makes beautiful, high-quality jewelry, is auctioning off one of her sterling silver Diana necklaces. This auction is to help, Stephanie Nielson (aka NieNie), who is a fellow blogger that was injured in a small plane crash last month. She has burns over 80% of her body, her husband, Christian, is burned over 30% of his and their flight instructor, Doug Kinneard, died in the crash. The young couple, who are in their late twenties and reside in Arizona, have four children.

On Saturday, the New York Times wrote about bloggers' efforts to raise money for medical and other expenses. One sentence in the article makes it clear how devastating Stephanie's injuries are: "Last week, during reconstructive surgery on Ms. Nielson’s badly damaged face, doctors retrieved enough tissue from parts of her body to craft a new nose and ears." (You can stay up-to-date on the couple's progress through Stephanie's sister's blog, C Jane.)

The retail price of the Diana necklace is $250. The full amount of the winning bid will go to the Stephanie Nielson Fund. To bid on the necklace, go to Wendy Brandes's blog entry. The auction ends Friday, September 12th.

Photo caption: Diana Necklace

Media and Celebrities Stand Up To Cancer to End Cancer

Tomorrow on September 5th, ABC, CBS and NBC will simultaneously broadcast live and commercial free the Stand Up To Cancer show at 8 p.m. EST.

With large media support, the historic event will also feature the following celebrities: Casey Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Christina Applegate, Lance Armstrong, Josh Brolin, David Cook, Dana Delany, Fran Drescher, Kirsten Dunst, Elizabeth Edwards, Jon Favreau, America Ferrera, Neil Patrick Harris, Salma Hayek, Scarlett Johansson, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Masi Oka, Danica Patrick, Christina Ricci, Robin Roberts, Commissioner Allan H. Bud Selig, Homer Simpson, Marge Simpson, Meryl Streep, Hilary Swank, Charlize Theron, Goran Visnjic, Forest Whitaker, Jessica Alba, Charles Barkley, Halle Berry, Jack Black, Abigail Breslin, Kate Bosworth, Sheryl Crow, Ellen DeGeneres, Melissa Etheridge, Jimmy Fallon, Jennifer Garner, Brad Garrett, Angie Harmon, Tony Hawk, Marg Helgenberger, Diane Keaton, Rob Lowe, Mandy Moore, Don Newcombe, Sharon Osbourne, Josh Peck, Mekhi Phifer, Keanu Reeves, Jimmy Smits, David Spade and Carrie Underwood.

According to their Web site, Stand Up To Cancer, a nonprofit organization, has announced an innovative approach to research designed to bring together the best and brightest investigators from leading institutions around the world. This unique initiative, which will foster scientific collaboration and accelerate the discovery of new therapies, will be administered by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) under the direction of a Scientific Advisory Committee led by Nobel Laureate Phillip A. Sharp, Ph.D., Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT.

Every day, cancer kills 1,500 Americans— one person every minute. This year, more than 550,000 Americans and six million people worldwide will succumb to this vicious disease. One out of three women and one in every two men will be diagnosed in their lifetimes. With advances in technology and research, scientists are close to pushing cancer from a disease that all too often takes lives to one people largely triumph over. This is where the end of cancer begins.

Ben Affleck Wins Big for Paralyzed Veterans

Writer, director and actor, Ben Affleck, won a charity poker event which raised $60,000 for Paralyzed Veterans of America.

The poker enthusiast defeated over 100 players, including two professional poker players, and celebrities Seth Myers, Sarah Silverman, Richard Dreyfuss and Montel Williams, in a six hour time period.

The tournament, which was held in Denver during the Democratic National Convention (DNC), was sponsored by the Poker Players Alliance. The organization paid for the event space, the dealers, tables, open bar and $500 buy-in for the players.

Next stop for the Alliance: another charity tournament at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Minnesota.

According to their Web site, The Paralyzed Veterans of America, a congressionally chartered veterans service organization founded in 1946, has developed a unique expertise on a wide variety of issues involving the special needs of our members—veterans of the armed forces who have experienced spinal cord injury or dysfunction. The organization will use that expertise to be the leading advocate for: quality health care for their members, research and education addressing spinal cord injury and dysfunction, benefits available as a result of their members’ military service and civil rights and opportunities which maximize the independence of their members.

To support military causes, go to the Military page on Uptown Liz.

Michael Phelps Dives into Charity with $1 Million from Speedo

The most decorated Olympian in history, Michael Phelps, used his $1 million bonus from Speedo to start a charity that will promote water safety and youth swimming.

The bonus from Speedo was contingent on the swimmer winning seven gold medals in one Olympic Games. The company will partner with Phelps to launch a program called "Dream, Plan, Reach" which will be promoted in eight cities across the United States. The program will educate and help children to live healthy, active and responsible lifestyles.

Phelps who won eight gold medals in Beijing - giving him a total of 14 golds - and holds 26 world records explained to Matt Lauer of the TODAY show, “because this sport has done so much for me, and for me to be able to welcome other kids and share the experiences that I‘ve had for the past 15 years of my life.

“I feel it's only appropriate that I continue the momentum that Speedo helped to create by committing my bonus to the establishment of the Michael Phelps Foundation, which I hope will help me inspire others to achieve their dreams, and give back to the sport that has given me so much,” Phelps said in a statement.