Thursday marked the birthday of one of the greatest musical talents of all time: Fela Anikulapo-Kuti.

Too often, as a society, we insult our young people, labeling them as a lost generation. Here's a young man who has taken leadership in to his 11-year-old hands.

Who knew that bleaching cream or skin whiteners could ensure a happy life?

Well, that's the message being put forth to Indian men in a new TV ad for the skin-whitening product Fair Menz. The commercial features two men, one who has a fair complexion and one who has a darker complexion. The darker-skinned man tells his friend in Hindi that his face makes him unlucky. His friend responds that the color of his face is the problem, and to the rescue comes Fair Menz, the answer to his troubles. After the guy uses the product, the commercial ends with him riding away on a motorcycle with a woman. All is solved, right?

Today marks the official birthday of the late Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, a man who had a revolutionary vision for Ghana, and Africa as a whole, through his lifelong mission to forge a United States of Africa.

Well, it appears to be hunting season on Nigerians. I had just completed my undergraduate studies at New York University, when I saw the '20/20' investigation into Nigerian e-mail scams. Within days, I witnessed the words "Nigerian" and "scam" fall from the lips of individuals who were convinced that Nigerians' sole purpose in life was to defraud others. Since that time, I find that I am constantly correcting someone who finds it perfectly fine to utter Nigerian scam jokes in my presence or probe the extent of my knowledge or involvement with 419 (a term from the Nigerian Criminal Code Act Section 419) upon learning that I am Nigerian. I think I have rolled my eyes more times in the past few years than in my entire life. This brings me to Sony's latest PlayStation 3 commercial, which you can check out below:

BLACK VOICES EXCLUSIVE

Gabonese Democratic Party candidate Ali-Ben Bongo Ondimba may have some explaining to do abroad -- and here in the United States.

While the presidential hopeful is focused on winning the Gabonese election -- he is among 3 candidates claiming victory in the Aug. 30 contest -- his estranged wife, Inge Bongo (nee Inge Collins), and their adopted children subsist on welfare in the United States.

The beautiful California native (pictured left leaving the welfare office in Riverside) told Black Voices that she still loves her husband.