Former President Carter Speaks On The Role Of Race In President Obama's Opposition

In a recent interview Former President Jimmy Carter that racial politics played a role in South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst during President Obama's speech to Congress last week and in some of the opposition the president has faced since taking office. Read the entire story here.

Liberia's Leslie Lumeh Opens The Country's First Art Gallery

Today In Black History - Muhammad Ali

On this date in 1978 Muhammad Ali beat Leon Spinks in the New Orleans Superdome and regained his WBA World Heavyweight Boxing Championship title. With that win Ali became the first three-time heavyweight champion. He also received the UN "Messenger of Peace Award" on this date in 1998.

Q-Tip On Giving Beats To Biggie & Jay-Z

Today In Black History - Bombing In Birmingham

On this date in 1963 Addie Mae Collins, Carol Robertson, Denise McNair, and Cynthia Wesley, were all killed at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL. A bomb which was thrown into the building which caused the structure to collapse and kill the four girls. Robert E. Chambliss, a white supremacist, was later convicted of the racist attack. Thomas E. Blanton and Bobby Frank Cherry were also charged in their deaths on May 17, 2000.

J. Period & K’Naan - The Messengers Episode 3: Bob Dylan

J.Period & K’NAAN are pleased to present the third and final installment of The Messengers tribute to Fela Kuti, Bob Marley & Bob Dylan. Episode #3 celebrates America’s reluctant Civil Rights song leader and poetic voice, Bob Dylan. Dylan’s own struggle with his status as a “Messenger” is well-documented: he shunned the tremendous expectations placed on him during the 60’s, preferring to see himself as a songwriter rather than a social leader. Nevertheless, the impact of his music is undeniable and, over 40 years since Dylan’s arrival, J.Period & K’NAAN set out to show his continued relevance, both socially and musically. On The Messengers #3: Bob Dylan, J.Period remixes and re-invents Dylan’s music for the hip hop generation, while K’NAAN channels Dylan’s poetic voice with heartfelt and compelling lyrics. The result is an unprecedented and truly unique mixtape offering.

Download: J. Period & K’Naan - The Messengers Episode 3: Bob Dylan

Today In Black History - Claude McKay

On this date in 1890 Claude McKay was born in Jamaica. The "Harlem Renaissance" novelist and poet would become the first Black to write a best seller in fiction with his book Home to Harlem in 1928.

Lebron James Interview about More Than A Game Movie & Music (Video)

Flooding In West Africa Is Affecting More Then 600,000 People

Rains and flooding that have been happening since June, are now affecting more than 600,000 people in up to 16 West African nations. The worst hit countries have been Burkina Faso, Senegal, Ghana and Niger. The UN is there but they have not been able to do much thus far. To read more on this story click here.

The Call & The Post Became One In Cleveland

On this date in 1928 The Call and The Post newspapers of Cleveland joined to create The Cleveland Call & Post. Before the merger each paper had been the news keepers for the black communities of Cleveland and its surrounding town since the early 1900's. One of the founding fathers of this paper was the great Garrett Morgan. This paper is the only African-American owned, general circulation newspaper in Cleveland that conforms to the Ohio Revised Code’s definition of a newspaper of general circulation.

Today In Black History - Henry Ossawa Tanner

On this date in 1973 Henry Ossawa Tanner the world-renowned artist, was commemorated on a U.S. postage stamp. Tanner who was born on June 21, 1859 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was an African American artist best known for his paintings of religious subjects, genre scenes, and portraits. He is widely considered the first African American painter to gain international fame and recognition for is outstanding pieces. His work had a great effect on the works of Norman Rockwell and William Edouard Scott. Tanner's most famous work is his painting entitled The Banjo Lesson.His painting Sand Dunes at Sunset, Atlantic City hangs in the Green Room at the White House. This piece was the first painting by an African-American artist to enter the permanent collection of the White House.

The Banjo Lesson- 1893

Sand Dunes at Sunset, Atlantic City - 1885

50 Cent at Howard University (Video)

Today In Black History - Georgia Douglas Johnson

On this date in 1880 Georgia Douglas Johnson was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Johnson was a great poet who is best known for her role during the Harlem Renaissance. Her poems often suggested a feminine sensibility and a feminist awareness, and took up challenges and aspirations of the African-American community. Her weekly "Saturday Salons", for friends and authors, including Langston Hughes, Jean Toomer, Anne Spencer, Richard Bruce Nugent, Alain Locke, Jessie Redmon Fauset,Mary P. Burrill, Countee Cullen, Angelina Weld Grimke and Eulalie Spence. At these open forums, these prominent writers of the Harlem Renaissance would introduce new material and get feed back from the other great writers.

I Want to Die While You Love Me

I WANT to die while you love me,
While yet you hold me fair,
While laughter lies upon my lips
And lights are in my hair.

I want to die while you love me,
And bear to that still bed,
Your kisses turbulent, unspent
To warm me when I’m dead.

I want to die while you love me
Oh, who would care to live
Till love has nothing more to ask
And nothing more to give!

I want to die while you love me
And never, never see
The glory of this perfect day
Grow dim or cease to be.

- Georgia Douglas Johnson

Guinea-Bissau Gets Free Of Portuguese Rule

On this date in 1974 Guinea-Bissau was finally recognized as an independent nation from Portugal after declaring to be one nearly and year earlier. Luís Cabral was appointed the first President of Guinea-Bissau.

Today In Black History - Mordecai Wyatt Johnson

On this date in 1976 Mordecai Johnson died at age 86. Johnson became the first Black president of Howard University when he took that position in 1926 and would hold that title until 1960. Before taking the position at Howard, Johnson served as Professor of Economics and History at Morehouse in Atlanta.