Ludacris the next Oprah?

[JC]

I thought it was a nice story. The bold part cracks me up.

CN: Rapper Ludacris, dealership give away 20 cars to drivers in need

MORROW, Georgia (CNN) -- Jobless for nearly a year, Michael Rivers was about to walk out of his house a few weeks ago to catch the bus for another daylong employment hunt when a radio announcement stopped him.

With Ludacris at her side, single mom Joya Montgomery, 26, proudly displays keys to her car Sunday.

"This is Ludacris, and I'm giving away 20 free cars. ..."

The famous rapper was pulling an Oprah in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia.

The rapper announced that if listeners were able to pay the taxes, registration, tags and insurance, they should go to his nonprofit Ludacris Foundation Web site and write 300 words about why they deserved new wheels.

"And make it good," Luda warned.

Four thousand people took him up on his challenge, and in a few days, more than 2,000 essays poured into the Nissan South dealership in Morrow, Georgia, that had teamed with the rapper on the used-car giveaway.

Rivers' essay was among them.

"I didn't even wait; I just continued out that door to the community center, sat at a computer and let all my emotions come out," he said.

Rivers described riding the city bus with his 14-year-old daughter to make sure she arrived safely at school and how he recently celebrated the small victory of getting his 17-year-old autistic son, who can't tolerate crowds, to stand calmly for a few moments outside the bus stop. He doesn't live near a grocery store so he has to bring home the food he can carry on the bus.

Rivers was laid off from his job as a court clerk in the summer of 2008, and making job interviews on time isn't easy when the bus is often late.

But on Sunday afternoon, Rivers was giddy, slightly bouncing as he spoke. He stood shoulder to shoulder among the 20 winners and their friends and families waiting to see their cars.

"I don't care what it is," Rivers said. "I'm grateful for any car with four wheels because it beats two heels."

Winners received 30 days of free gas, which will be a big help to Joya Montgomery, a 26-year-old single parent of a 4-year-old, 8-year-old and 3-month-old.

She has been waking before 5 a.m. and walking to the bus stop, while it's dark, with her children to begin a long journey to her job and to drop them off at school or a friend's home.

"It was scary at times," she said. "You don't even know who's out there. I was always looking over my shoulder.

"I just can't believe I won. I'm real happy."

In the parking lot, the crowd was dancing. But the bass of Ludacris' latest single blasting from the dealership's loudspeakers was secondary inspiration for one Atlanta grandmother. Fifty-one-year-old Vermelle Jackson was so excited to have a 2005 Mercury Sable to drive around grandchildren, nieces and nephews that she swiveled her hips around and dipped it shockingly low to the ground.

"Lord Jesus. ... He brought this car to me, baby!" she shouted, arms raised. "This is God's work!"

Actually, the giveaway idea came from Chris White, the jovial, hand-shaking manager of Nissan South. "I knew someone who knew someone who knew Luda and, you know, we just made it happen," White said.

The concept seemed like a winner for everyone. Like many dealerships, Nissan South has not yet been reimbursed for the money it spent upfront during the federal government's Cash for Clunkers program that allowed customers to trade in older cars for $3,500 or $4,500 credit.

When the popular program ended August 24, the car dealer didn't want to turn away customers who kept streaming in, expecting to get the same discounts.

So Nissan South continued giving customers identical low rates and taking their used cars. The Cash for Clunkers program and the continued discounts totaled nearly $800,000 in the hole for the dealership, said owner Scott Smith.

"We're grateful for the Clunkers program because it really helped business, but it's a lot of money to be without," he said.

At the end of the year, the cars given away under the Luda program, which were not technically acquired during the Clunkers program, may be eligible as charity tax write-offs.

"We like to think of it as not being about the write-offs," White said. "It's more like we had a chance to do something positive in the community that is going through a really hard time right now."

White helped place a few radio spots and within two days, more than 2,000 essays had been sent in. That number quickly shot to close to 4,000.

Ludacris and his mother, Roberta Shields, who directs his foundation and helped give away the cars Sunday, and the rapper's foundation staff of about a dozen helped read the essays. To validate the stories they found most compelling, they made phone calls and interviewed people who knew the finalists.

"We ended up calling a homeless shelter to reach one gentleman whose cell phone had gone out, and he was recharging it," Shields said. "We didn't know if we'd get ahold of him, but we finally did. All he wanted was a car to help him go out for job interviews."

Ludacris was particularly moved by the story of a Sudanese refugee who has experienced every hardship imaginable, the least of which was a broken-down car. The two sat down Sunday and had a long talk.

"That's one of those stories that really had me like, man, I thought I had faced some adversities in life," the rapper said in a quiet moment away from the crowd. "But I've not faced adversities at all compared to what he's been through. I cannot imagine going through what he's gone through and still be that strong."

Mading Duor, who escaped civil war and was providing for his four children on a school maintenance worker's salary, was crossing a street in Decatur, Georgia, when a driver ignored a crosswalk and hit and killed his 4-year-old son.

Karen McCrea, who attends church with Duor, wrote the winning essay.

"I don't expect anyone to understand [what I have been through], but I know that people come to me with a good heart now," he said. "I couldn't believe it when she called me to tell me. I said, 'You are kidding! It cannot be!' "

Neither McCrea, from Atlanta's affluent Buckhead area, nor Duor, neatly dressed in a shirt buttoned to the collar, seemed like Ludacris' demographic. They nodded their heads to his music anyway, smiling.

"Oh, I know his music, I know it, yes," Duor said. "I will play it [in my car]."

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/09/07/atl...ars/index.html

* Registered users of the site do not see these ads.

[AugustusMaximus]

4000 people - 2000 essays???

[Brad Pittiful]

this story is ludicrous

[skribblez32]

Bill O'Reilly should do an op-ed on this...

[lethal.adv]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Teleca Q7; Brew 3.1.5; U; en) 240X400 LGE VX9700)

Originally Posted by AugustusMaximus

4000 people - 2000 essays???

wow thats alot of term papers

[grinner hester]

or mexicans

[Conor]

Originally Posted by skribblez32

Bill O'Reilly should do an op-ed on this...

O'Reilly: In today's Talking Points Memo- Rapper Ludacris is continuing to corrupt our nation's youth with his divisive music supported by giving away cars to unemployed citizens of Atlanta, Georgia.

The O'Reilly Factor firmly believes that Ludacris cares not for the well-being of these people but only for his next record contract. Clearly, he is also employing reverse racism as all the recipients of these cars were African Americans. Disgusting, friends.

[sean96gsr]

Originally Posted by Conor

O'Reilly: In today's Talking Points Memo- Rapper Ludacris is continuing to corrupt our nation's youth with his divisive music supported by giving away cars to unemployed citizens of Atlanta, Georgia.

The O'Reilly Factor firmly believes that Ludacris cares not for the well-being of these people but only for his next record contract. Clearly, he is also employing reverse racism as all the recipients of these cars were African Americans. Disgusting, friends.

God, O'Reilly is such an insufferable douchebag...

[TDQuiksilver]

Matches Malone the next Ludacris?

[nairbmik]

Ludacris is a cool guy. His music isn't half bad either.

[Justin80]

Luda is good people. He's also hilarious.

[el_guapo]

Only catch is they gotta ghost ride the whip on the way off the dealer lot.

[Krmnnghia01]

Joya Montgomery's problem...I found it.

26-year-old single parent of a 4-year-old, 8-year-old and 3-month-old

[AugustusMaximus]

Originally Posted by lethal.adv

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Teleca Q7; Brew 3.1.5; U; en) 240X400 LGE VX9700)



wow thats alot of term papers

Ummmm......4000 people, why not 4000 essays??? Did 2000 people just show up looking for a free car for nothing? Sounds like one of those cop stings where they tell people with warrants that they won something and have to come pick it up in person! LOL

[lethal.adv]

Originally Posted by AugustusMaximus

Ummmm......4000 people, why not 4000 essays??? Did 2000 people just show up looking for a free car for nothing? Sounds like one of those cop stings where they tell people with warrants that they won something and have to come pick it up in person! LOL

nvm it was a Pablo Francisco joke

[Eby]

Originally Posted by AugustusMaximus

Ummmm......4000 people, why not 4000 essays??? Did 2000 people just show up looking for a free car for nothing? Sounds like one of those cop stings where they tell people with warrants that they won something and have to come pick it up in person! LOL

That paragraph in the article was poorly written. Later they said this:

White helped place a few radio spots and within two days, more than 2,000 essays had been sent in. That number quickly shot to close to 4,000.

[sonicblue]

http://music.msn.com/music/article.a...9910&GT1=28102

Couldn't help but highlight a few parts...


MORROW, Ga. (AP) -- Talk about a one-man stimulus package: Grammy-winning rapper Ludacris has given away 20 cars to people who wrote about their struggles to keep their jobs for a lack of wheels of their own. Ludacris said he was taken aback after reading thousands of essays by people struggling or unable to buy cars needed to get to and from work or find jobs. The 31-year-old rapper felt he could step in and move them ahead, partnering with a suburban Atlanta dealership for Sunday's giveaway.

"People are getting laid off, and now are looking for jobs," Ludacris said. "To be efficient, you need some transportation of your own to get there. That's why I wanted to give back to those who need it." Each of the used vehicles included free gas for 30 days. Winning contestants were responsible for tags, registration, tax and insurance. About 4,000 contestants submitted a 300-word essay to the rapper's foundation, explaining why they deserved a car.

One of the most touching stories Ludacris read was by Mading Duor. Duor described how he moved to the United States six years ago after his mother, father, and five brothers and sisters were killed in Sudan. The man also wrote that a son was killed by a drunken driver in Atlanta a few years back. "His story touched my heart," Ludacris said. "He's endured so much in his life and he's still here standing. I'm very proud to have helped him."

Duor, 33, has been able to keep a steady job at a school, but each day he felt stressed about how he was going to get to work. No longer. "I'm so happy, that I'm nervous," said Duor, who won a Nissan Maxima. "When I look at my new car, I say to myself, 'Is this really happening?'"

Crystal Beauford, a single mother who used to ride the bus to two jobs and school, now has a Saturn Ion. The 26-year-old college student doesn't know how to drive the stick-shift vehicle, but said she'll learn. "This is going to help me out so much," Beauford said. "It's a blessing."


All the coin that dude has, and he bought USED cars (warranties??), making the people foot the TTR&I and gives one chick a car she doesn't know how to drive?? Props to him, seriously, I think he's a good guy, I even like him as an actor and this is a great gesture, but I think some details should have been looked at a bit more carefully.

EDIT: and are we really so ADD that we have to refer to this guy as "Luda"???? F**k, his real first name is Chris, that's one syllable shorter, and we could skip the whole 'rapper nickname' thing altogether

[Wagon Of Fury]

yo dawg,I herd you....

oops, wrong guy.

[MotorolaBizz]

LMAO at "sonicblue's" highlights. And I'm not sure if I'd want an 05' Sable but hey I guess a car is a car.

[Kiel]

Originally Posted by sonicblue

All the coin that dude has, and he bought USED cars (warranties??), making the people foot the TTR&I and gives one chick a car she doesn't know how to drive?? Props to him, seriously, I think he's a good guy, I even like him as an actor and this is a great gesture, but I think some details should have been looked at a bit more carefully.

He could have not done any of it. Why give cars to people who can't even pay the costs of driving them on the road (i.e. insurance)? Who the **** cares if they were used? If you had no car would you really be so ridiculous as to turn down a free used car?

[brendan_mac]

On the next Luda....

What do you do when one of your 99 problem's is a bi***?
And Dr. Dre is here to solve a family crisis by layering it over some fat beats.

Also, celebrity guest, Tom Cruise!

[jms]

A car is a car to those in need of a car.

[sonicblue]

Originally Posted by Kiel

He could have not done any of it. Why give cars to people who can't even pay the costs of driving them on the road (i.e. insurance)? Who the **** cares if they were used? If you had no car would you really be so ridiculous as to turn down a free used car?

Then just give them all the clunker trades, and tell them GTFO, be thankful, bitches!! C'mon, man, I'm not saying the gesture's an utter failure, but you're talking about a guy with millions helping out people with contest-worthy tragedy and adversity here.

I'm not saying they all need new Bentley's, and sure, make sure they can afford the car, but maybe give them all a new (warrantied) base Corolla or something, and foot all the up-front costs. If their stories are so tragic and heart-wrenching, spare them any out-of-pocket, too, that's all. Oh, and maybe a quick driving test on the cars with manual trans

[MotorolaBizz]

Originally Posted by jms

A car is a car to those in need of a car.

True but tax/title/registration/insurance is alot....I'm sure some of them just through a tag on it and kept it movin.

[ZMANNH25rs]

Originally Posted by MotorolaBizz

True but tax/title/registration/insurance is alot....I'm sure some of them just through a tag on it and kept it movin.