Here's your mainstream urban media, folks. Doing its part to increase awareness of the stability of the black family. Yay!

Comics? Check. Coupons? Check. Parade? Check. Magazine on racial and ethnic issues in the U.S.? Starting this Sunday, check. Along with the cheesy Parade and the piles of paper-wasting inserts from Best Buy and Wal-Mart, many Sunday paper readers will find Rise Up, a Kansas-City-based weekly magazine that purports to "celebrate race and ethnicity and help us better understand our differences, celebrate our commonalities and build a great foundation to bridge the gaps that divide us." And, if it comes sandwiched between the latest Dilbert comic and a Parade cover story about Valerie Bertinelli's battle to overcome her coke addiction, it might actually force people to notice or talk about things they spend a lot of time not trying to notice or talk about.

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• Get over yourself, Mr. Party Promoter. Diddy's bodyguards beat everyone up. [IHT]

• DC blacks are losing their power in the city, and most of them aren't happy about it. [BN]

• A new magazine just called Noir Chef, and it's for and about African American chefs. If you watched the Food Network you probably wouldn't think there were any. [PRweb]

• Gender and race continue to obsess political journalists. [USAT]

• Sirius radio's expanding its lineup with something tasteful. [CNN]

• What's the hand doing, Janet? [MG]

• African American is a perfectly nice thing to be, in my opinion, but Beyonce (who shouts her Creole heritage from the damn mountaintops at every opportunity) kind of wishes she had been born a Latina. Maybe in the next lifetime, chica. [Latina]

• Can a black women's magazine besides Essence get a foothold in the market, please? [Jezebel]

• Jamaica's not the most gay-friendly country? I never would have known… [QT]

• Thanks to everyone who came to Full Throttle Fashion on Saturday to celebrate The Fashion Bomb's anniversary with yours truly, The B-Life, Hourglass Events, Pieces Boutique, and the JI Group (phew). Plus, a special thanks to Boutique Finesse and the Rum Cake Fairy (for the insanely delicious and much-needed late-night dessert)!