Black folks have been in the news a lot recently and, despite the fact that an African American is in the White House (and according to recent polls stands likely to stay there for the next five years), a lot of that news has been extremely depressing in the past month. From "Stand Your Ground" to why John Derbyshire might be considered racist, Americans have had a cantankerous time discussing race (and especially black culture) in the past few weeks.

On a much lighter note, Mary J. Blige has hilariously brought the age old question of how much black folks can talk (sing?) about eating fried chicken in public out of the closet and into the bright, fluorescent lights of a Burger King .

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Recall Ceferino "Papo" Perez? He's that humble East Harlem coke king who Photoshopped his pic on top of Al Pacino's photo in a Scarface movie poster -- and displayed the masterpiece on his nightstand(!)

Perez, 45, pleaded guilty this month to mastermining a massive cocaine ring, which got busted in June. But today, Seferino got a 20-years-to-life prison sentence, according to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance. Twenty one of his cronies have also been sentenced.

The op was said to include both a $650,000 delivery biz and a $1.1 mil wholesale subsidiary that distributed blow and crack-cocaine to dealers throughout the city for 25 years.

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James Carter, an ex-con with murder on his rap sheet, will spend 16 years behind bars for illegally selling firearms -- including semiautomatic handguns and a sawed-off shotgun, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance announced today.

Carter, 45, was just sentenced. He had pleaded guilty Jan. 23 to criminal sale of a firearm in the first degree.

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Hey, New Yorker! Yeah, YOU! Now you finally have good reason to be that asshole -- you know, that guy or gal who doesn't want to give directions. It could be dangerous!

Cops say the four scumbags pictured here are preying on the city's good Samaritans -- they'll stop and ask you for directions and rob you while you're distracted.

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Reggie Allen is no criminal mastermind.

Cops say that 34-year-old Allen brought two loaded firearms -- including a Tec-9 semi-automatic pistol and a .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun -- into a crowded Times Square subway station on New Year's Day.

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Money can't buy happiness -- but it might buy you time behind the steering wheel if you're a felon who has been kicked out of the U.S.

The Manhattan District Attorney says that Clarence Jenkins, a 56-year-old DMV clerk, sold three fraudulent drivers licenses to New Yorkers -- including "at least one deported felon who illegally returned to the country."

The D.A., which announced Jenkins's indictment today, said that the ruse worked like this: Jenkins would process fake IDs from Puerto Rico -- which he knew were bogus -- and use them to issue valid New York drivers licenses.

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We saw everything and more in 2010

As you head off to wherever you're going for the holidays, or simply stay home and count your blessings that you're staying put, let's recap the year in flight. It was exciting! Here are our craziest moments in the sky for 2010.

Steven Slater!: The Jet Blue flight attendant who went completely crazy while on the job was a "national hero" for 3 seconds. But then everyone realized that he was just a crazy person, so they stopped caring.

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I have this theory about movies with plots that involve serious drug trouble: the second a woman causes trouble, everything goes to shit. This isn't to say that's how it actually is in real life -- I wouldn't know -- but if you watch Blow, Scarface, Goodfellas, or even Pulp Fiction, you'll start to see a little bit of a pattern. American Gangster, the Ridley Scott-directed movie about Harlem heroin kingpin Frank Lucas, was kind of a story that worked as an exception to said theory.

Until now.

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If you're a smoker, you likely know by now that New York City has found the best way to make you quit: not by ads that prominently feature large, grossly cancered body parts or by offering up free gum and patches. No. It's by jacking up the price to the point where you're basically in one of the "higher" tax brackets if you're both a heavy smoker and can afford to pay your rent. Which has yielded a black market economy of bootleg cigarettes. Which just got busted in a big way.

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"If the person is an artist or a member of a dance troupe who lives in the neighborhood, that's cool. If the person has a short haircut, lots of muscles, and a polo shirt with the word 'DEC' on it, that's not so cool," said Claw."

- A Brooklyn Lobster Roll "Dealer" named "Dr. Claw," who now delivers Lobster Rolls, and tries to avoid "the feds," in what may be the best profile you read this week. [Via The Brooklyn Paper]