A full century-and-a-half before President Barack Obama began mesmerizing the country with his moving oratory, another Black man gave what some call his greatest speech.

Frederick Douglass had not only a White parent and fatherless upbringing in common with America’s future leader; he also shared Obama’s vision to change government. It was in Rochester, New York, July 1852 when the ex-slave challenged White slavery opponents to step up their game, giving the speech that author David W. Blight describes as “abolition’s rhetorical masterpiece.”

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Benjamin, 40, defeated a city council candidate whose campaign was built around the warning that Columbia’s budget is in crisis and a promise to shrink local government.

Benjamin, in contrast, promised to restore funding cut to the police department. He won with nearly 56 percent of the vote.
More than 19,000 people – some 31 percent for the city’s registered voters – cast ballots Tuesday.

“The people of Columbia spoke, and together we made history,” Benjamin was quoted as saying in the Charlotte Observer. “We made history today, not because of race. We made history because people responded to a message of unity, hope and promise. We are one city. One Columbia.”

Is there anyone else on the air right now that can do what Oprah has done for so many people over the years? I guess the better question is, who can match Oprah Winfrey?

Oprah Winfrey has singlehandedly revolutionized the lives of countless men and women just by mentioning their product or service on her show. It’s what CNBC has cloaked, “The Oprah Effect.” Some people have characterized this as the Midas-touch ~ everything she touches turns to gold. And that is not far from the truth.

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Sunday also marked the anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s death. Forty-two years ago, an assassin’s bullet took his life as he struggled to secure the promises of American democracy for the children of slaves. His sacrifice, along with countless others, helped usher in a new chapter in American life — one that prepared the way for the election of our nation’s first African-American president.

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VIA USA TODAY

President Obama, who rarely attends public church services, turns often to a wide range of Baptists, Mainline Protestants, Catholics, Muslims and Jews for prayer and spiritual and moral discussion, according to a new report.

Obama prays on the phone with ministers from around the country, speaks often of the role of faith in public life, and quotes Christian theologians “to frame his policies in moral terms,” says Daniel Burke, writing for Washington, D.C.- based Religion News Service.

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VIA CHARLOTTE OBSERVER

COLUMBIA – When Juanita Goggins became the first black woman elected to the S.C. legislature in 1974, she was hailed as a trailblazer and twice visited the president at the White House.

Three decades later, she froze to death at age 75, a solitary figure living in a rented house four miles from the gleaming State House dome. Goggins, a lawmaker from Rock Hill whose achievements included key legislation on school funding, kindergarten and class size, suffered from mental illness and had become increasingly reclusive.

She spent her final years in Columbia turning down help from neighbors who knew little of her history-making past or that part of a state highway – S.C. 5 in York County – is named in her honor. Her funeral is Friday at New Covenant Missionary Baptist Church in Rock Hill.

Moderated by former WCNC news anchor Sterlin Benson Webber, program panelists include:

- Tricia Derr, attorney at Lincoln Derr

- Valecia McDowell, attorney at Moore & Van Allen

- Nancy Norelli, former NC District Judge and attorney at Norelli Law

- Corie Pauling, senior counsel for TIAA-CREF

- Geraldine Sumter, attorney at Ferguson, Stein, Chamber, Gresham and Sumter

VIA:  SmokeyRobinson.Com

The dictionary defines the popular term “comfort food” as “food prepared in a traditional style having a usually nostalgic or sentimental appeal.” It has been known to have a buffering effect as it soothes the soul and spurs memories of more “comforting” times. If that concept holds up in the kitchen, then it makes perfect sense that it should hold true in the living room with its aural equivalent. While it’s already a known fact that popular songs often connect with listeners in a highly personal way, often recalled alongside life’s more personal moments, only a few distinctive voices in popular music can achieve that same effect with instantaneous familiarity. With his eternally smooth and instantly recognizable falsetto alone – without the strings, bass, guitar or drums – legendary singer/songwriter/producer SMOKEY ROBINSON’s honey-coated voice absolutely is the audio equivalent of comfort food…comfort food for the soul…with soul. In following with the aforementioned definition, the Motown legend’s forthcoming ROBSO Records CD, Time Flies When You’re Having Fun has certainly been “prepared in a traditional style,” while that oh-so-familiar, highly identifiable crooning has an indisputable “nostalgic or sentimental appeal.”

Indeed, the “traditional” element of Time Flies When You’re Having Fun had already been determined while Robinson was recording his last CD, 2006’s pop/jazz standards collection Timeless Love. Just as that particular project had been recorded live in the studio with musicians – the first time he had recorded a full LP that way in years – Smokey knew he wanted to record his newly-written contemporary R&B songs in the very same fashion. In fact, he was so inspired by recording the “old school way” that the recording schedule for both projects actually overlapped. “I was having such a ball making that project (Timeless Love),” he explains. “I hadn’t intended on doing them simultaneously because I knew that Timeless Love was the one I was going to come out with. But things were going so well with that project that I said, ‘I’m gonna start putting in some of the original material I’d written for my new CD (Time Flies When You’re Having Fun) and record it this way too.’ I knew I was going to do these particular songs, but I didn’t realize I was going to wind up recording them live like I did with Timeless Love. So I did and we had a ball.” Though he’s the first to acknowledge and appreciate the technologically advanced way that recording for most releases are done today, like the cleaner sound and creative lee-way afforded by ProTools, Robinson was steadfast in his penchant for live instrumentation for this CD. “I think that you still don’t get that feeling that you used to get in the old days when everybody was in the studio together,” says Robinson, whose early Motown classics were recorded in this fashion. “That way was like doing a concert, because everybody was feeding off of each other. It’s just that live vibe.”

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Check out “Ebony Eyes” by Smokey Robinson and Rick James:

VIA: www.blackgivesback.com

PSAs debut at Howard University and Colleges and Universities Nationwide as part of First Annual HBCU National Mental Health Awareness Day

Washington, D.C., February 23, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), working in collaboration with the Ad Council and the Stay Strong Foundation, announced today the launch of a national public service advertising (PSA) campaign designed to raise awareness of mental health problems among young adults in the African American community. The new PSAs were unveiled at a Black History Month event at Howard University this morning to coincide with the first annual HBCU National Mental Health Awareness Day. The launch was telecast to colleges and universities nationwide.

Mental illnesses, including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, are widespread in the U.S. and often misunderstood. According to SAMHSA, in 2008 there were an estimated 9.8 million adults aged 18 or older living with serious mental illness. Among adults, the prevalence of serious mental illness is highest in the 18 to 25 age group, yet this age group is also the least likely to receive services or counseling. In 2008, 6.0 percent of African Americans ages 18-25 had serious mental illness in the past year. Overall, only 58.7 percent of Americans with serious mental illness received care within the past 12 months and the percentage of African Americans receiving services is only 44.8 percent.

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On January 18, 1958, hockey player Willie O’Ree of the Boston Bruins takes to the ice for a game against the Montreal Canadiens, becoming the first black to play in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Born in 1935 in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, O’Ree was the son of a civil engineer, in one of Fredericton’s only two black families. He began skating at the age of three, and joined a nearby hockey league when he was only five. During five years playing with his older brother on teams in Fredericton, O’Ree became known as one of the best players in New Brunswick. After one season with the Quebec Frontenacs of the Quebec Junior Hockey League, he joined the Kitchener Canucks of the Ontario Hockey Association Junior “A” Hockey League, setting a career-high mark of 30 goals during the 1955-56 season. That year, a puck struck O’Ree in the right eye during a game, robbing him of 95 percent of the vision in that eye.

O’Ree managed to conceal the injury and continue his hockey career, joining the Quebec Aces of the prestigious Quebec Hockey League in 1956. During his second season with Quebec, the Boston Bruins of the NHL called up the 22-year-old O’Ree to replace an injured player. On January 18, 1958, the Bruins were playing the two-time Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens at Quebec’s Montreal Forum. O’Ree took to the ice as a forward with the Bruins’ third line, as the Bruins pulled off an upset 3-0 victory. He didn’t score, or record a penalty, and the historic event took place amid little fanfare.

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