The National Black Justice Coalition has announced that Connecticut State Representative Jason Bartlett (D-2) will serve as their new Deputy Director.

Alexander Robinson, Executive Director of the National Black Justice Coalition, stated "I am thrilled to have an accomplished executive and legislator join our team. Jason is the realization of NBJC's vision of a society where we all live and serve openly as Americans."

I've been a fan of Marcellas Reynolds since I first saw him  on Season 4 of Big Brother.  I recently got a chance to touch base with Marcellas and find out more about what he's been up to and his new Style Network show.

You first appeared on the CBS show 'Big Brother' in Season 3. How has your life changed since being on the show?

Wow my life is sooo different than before. I think the biggest difference is how many people know me. Not a day goes by without someone saying "Hi Marcellas." And of course now I'm now on TV a lot. Big Brother really changed my life & the direction of my entertainment career.

I am a lesbian, I am a mother, and I was a welfare recipient for about eight years. Because I was on welfare, I was able to give birth to my daughter in a hospital. I was able to obtain an apartment. I was able to feed my daughter more than just breast milk. I was able to clothe my family, get childcare, and an education. I was able to lift myself out of poverty.

I did not plan on going on welfare. In my voyage to escape the home life I felt (at the time) was miserable and unfulfilling, I searched for the only way I knew how to escape. I found an older man who could marry me and take me away; and soon became pregnant. I later found out he was a substance abuser and I became entangled in an abusive relationship. I was 17.

From Kaiser Daily: Most Democratic presidential candidates would support lifting a ban on federal funding for needle-exchange programs and replacing abstinence-only sex education with comprehensive HIV prevention programs if elected, according to a survey released Wednesday ahead of World AIDS Day, the AP/Sioux City Journal reports. The survey was conducted by AIDS Project of Central Iowa, Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa and several other groups in the state. It included three questions and was sent to Democratic and Republican presidential candidates (AP/Sioux City Journal, 11/29).