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Part of the Genius of the African American Spirituals is their ability to treat of serious themes, such as the final judgment, in a creatively compelling manner that steered a middle course between unproductive fear and prideful presumption.

The United States named a new Full Admiral in Washington, D.C. Friday--and it's an African American woman. She's will be the first ever female in Naval history to win a fourth star assuming the Senate approves President Obama's nomination. The Navy announced her nomination in an official release. Vice admiral Michelle Howard,53, is currently the deputy chief of naval operations, plans, and strategy.She will serve as the Navy's second ranking officer, vice chief of naval operations, just a single step below the Navy's top officer, the chief of naval operations.

In a March 2008 column, I criticized pundits' concerns about whether America was ready for Barack Obama, suggesting that the more important issue was whether black people could afford Obama. I proposed that we look at it in the context of a historical tidbit. In 1947, Jackie Robinson, after signing a contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers organization, broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball. He encountered open racist taunts and slurs from fans, opposing team players and even some members of his own team. Despite that, his batting average was nearly .300 in his first year. He led the...

I’m more than willing to give credit to leftists who come up with clever political satire. This cartoon about Fox News, for instance, is rather amusing, and this imagery about the greed of the developed world is effective even though it’s misguided. I’ve even shared funny videos, cartoons, and images that mock libertarians. So when Sarah Silverman put together a pro-gun control video mocking the idea of a “black NRA,” I was prepared to laugh. Having watched it, you can put me in the underwhelmed category. My computer skills are deficient and I only know how to embed YouTube videos,...

One potential benefit that can come from last week’s March on Washington 2013, which commemorated the 1963 civil rights event, is the various data publicized about the current state of affairs of black America vis a vis the rest of the country. In particular, it has been an eye opener for many to see how little progress has been made over the last 50 years in closing the economic gap, on average, between blacks and whites. I call shining light on the data a “potential” benefit because there is no benefit if real remedial action is not taken to improve...

Looking over the program for the coming festivities in Washington to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the civil rights march on Washington, and Dr. King’s famous August 28, 1963 “I have a dream” speech, it’s hard to not feel sober about the whole thing. I say sober because there is good news and bad news. What’s the good news? There has been monumental progress in the quality of life, on average, that black Americans lead today compared to 1963. The bad news? Fifty years is a long time, and the progress that has been achieved is not nearly what it...

The purging of Grammy Award winner Donnie McClurkin from performing at a concert commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1963 civil rights March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech should serve as yet another wakeup call to Christian black Americans. McClurkin, a black pastor and gospel music superstar, was asked to step down from his featured performance by Washington Mayor Vincent Gray as result of pressure from homosexual activists. McClurkin preaches against the homosexual lifestyle from his pulpit and says he himself departed and was saved from this lifestyle through God's mercy. Political...

Do you know what political party... Was initially created as anti-slavery leaders broke away to establish a new political group to abolish slavery? Allowed black Americans to participate in the political process subsequent to slavery; resulting in hundreds of black men who were former slaves, becoming congressmen and prominent political leaders? Spearheaded the Dred Scott decision of 1857, delivered by a party-specific Supreme Court declaring blacks were not persons or citizens, but instead property with no rights? Repealed all civil rights laws in 1876 and instituted "Jim Crow" laws to deprive blacks of their voting and civil rights? Did not...

Hip-Hop artist Akon posted this message to the black community: “Every African American in the United States need to move their money, family, knowledge back to Africa were u will be treated like the royalty you are. You don’t deserve this treatment. This is not your country!!” Really Akon? So where is Akon suggesting the blacks move to? Nigeria? Zimbabwe? Egypt?

Amid the dense fog and hot air blowing around the Republican Party, a new voice of clarity has emerged. It’s the voice of Louisiana State Senator Elbert Guillory, who announced several weeks ago his departure from the Democratic Party, which he calls “the party of disappointment,” to become a Republican. I wrote about Guillory a few weeks ago after I met him at the @Large conference in Baton Rouge, where he announced his change of party. Subsequently, Guillory explained why he, a black Democrat, would become a Republican in a video that went viral, and he continues to deliver his...

Lord, deliver us from evil. I was appalled hearing black University of Pennsylvania Professor Salamishah Tillet say during a panel discussion on MSNBC that pro-lifers' opposition to late-term abortion is really about white-power racism. Minority birth rates are up. Nutty professor Tillet believes those who oppose white women killing their babies are fearful of a decline of "whiteness, white supremacy, white privilege." It takes a pretty sick mind to find racism in desiring that women not kill their babies. By the way, Americans aborts 4,000 babies a day, of which a disproportionately high number are black. Planned Parenthood was founded...

Original title: 'As an African-American you have to work twice as hard': Obama tells Morehouse graduates he has a 'special obligation' to help less-fortunate black people ----------------------------------- President Barack Obama told graduates from the traditionally African-American Morehouse College yesterday that 'as a black man' he feels a 'special obligation' to help those less fortunate them him. In a personal commencement address to the college in Atlanta, Georgia, the president spoke about racism and how, given different opportunities, he could have ended up in prison or unemployed. President Obama also told graduates of the college, where Dr Martin Luther King Jr...

WASHINGTON, April 23, 2013 --/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Wednesday morning, April 24 at 9am, the African American Leadership Council will host a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, to oppose the Senate Gang of Eight's 844-page plus, immigration bill. During the conference, the Council will call on the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), to protect black labor by opposing amnesty and halting efforts to double legal immigration levels, as required under the bill. Many black leaders have recognized the harm caused by large increases in immigration as the Senate bill entails. As the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights...

As recently as 1956, nearly 39 percent of blacks voted Republican in that year's presidential election. After the Civil War, Abe Lincoln's Republican Party easily carried the black vote -- where blacks were allowed to vote. Unwelcome in the Democratic Party, most blacks voted Republican and continued to do so through the early part of the 20th century. It wasn't until 1948, when 77 percent of the black vote went to Harry Truman, who had desegregated the military, that a majority of blacks identified themselves as Democrats. Yet, as a percentage of the party, more Republicans voted for the passage...

Three brilliant black leaders are tuning out Obama and the black community needs to tune into these leaders. I’m surfing between the major news networks on a recent evening and I catch FOX News Channel’s Sean Hannity in the middle of an amazing interview with a guest named Harry Alford, the CEO and co-founder of the Black Chamber of Commerce. My jaw drops as Alford essentially calls Obama an anti-business tyrant who is hurting the African American community; he says he voted for Obama in 2008 but now has buyer’s remorse. I get to thinking: Given the choice between Alford...

If President Obama wants to be a hero in the African-American community, he should do something to alleviate the "abominable" black unemployment rate in America, says renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Benjamin Carson. The head of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md., who was the first surgeon to separate conjoined twins, told The Christian Post on Thursday that the economic policies being pursued by the Obama administration has resulted in an "abominable" unemployment rate in the African-American community. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, black unemployment stood at 13.8 percent in January, more than double the unemployment rate...

A National Day of Mourning for African Americans -- March 4, 2013 by Robert Oliver The date of March 4 may not have any significance in the African-American community other than personal birthdays and wedding anniversaries. However, March 4, 2013 will mark the centennial of the inauguration of Woodrow Wilson, the 28th President of the United States. On that day President Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration will be celebrated in Washington D.C. Why would March 4 and Woodrow Wilson be significant for African Americans? Wilson was a progressive Democrat and today is considered one of the greatest presidents in U.S. history. Many...

'God, Guns and Constitution' leader fears 'civil unrest' coming WASHINGTON – The highest levels of the U.S. government are fomenting “civil unrest” that soon could leave “blood in our streets,” a key Christian pastor said Tuesday at a pro-Second Amendment rally in Washington. Rev. William Owens Jr., director of community outreach for the Coalition of African-American Pastors and leader of God, Guns & the Constitution, said America has in many ways has passed the point of no return and its citizens will have to be “chastised” before they awaken to the reality of their situation. His goal now is “strengthening...

What is the essence of freedom? Property and a gun. I never met my grandfather, but that's the lesson I took from his life. He was one generation out of slavery and bought property and guns. It's so predictable that today's discussion on gun control is similar to the noise we hear from liberals every time there is a mass shooting. What is new this time is that the NRA, under the direction of Wayne LaPierre, David Keene and Asa Hutchinson, has put forth a concrete plan that most American parents should appreciate will keep children safer at school. Why...

JoAnn Watson, Detroit city council member, said, "Our people in an overwhelming way supported the re-election of this president, and there ought to be a quid pro quo." In other words, President Obama should send the nearly bankrupted city of Detroit millions in taxpayer bailout money. But there's a painful lesson to be learned from decades of political hustling and counsel by intellectuals and urban experts. In 1960, Detroit's population was 1.6 million. Blacks were 29 percent, and whites were 70 percent. Today, Detroit's population has fallen precipitously to 707,000, of which blacks are 84 percent and whites 8 percent....