Free Republic

American actress and singer Vanessa Williams will perform the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” which has become known as the “black national anthem,” at the annual A Capitol Fourth televised celebration. Williams told the Associated Press that she will be honoring both the nation’s independence day and Juneteenth, which recognizes the anniversary of the liberation of the last slaves in the United States, at the show. “It’s in celebration of the wonderful opportunity that we now have to celebrate Juneteenth. So we are reflective of the times,” she said. President Biden recently signed a law designating Juneteenth as a...

Faced with growing public pressure to end racial segregation in public schools, thousands of white parents in the early 1970s enrolled their children in private academies that sprang up across the South. Ellen Ann Fentress, a journalist and writer, was one of them. She is telling her story and urging other alumni of “seg academies” to come forward and give testimony about how attending an intentionally segregated school has shaped their lives as well as the social, political and economic fabric of the South. Fentress first told her story in June with an essay in the online publication the Bitter...

Anyone who doesn’t know that Rep. Maxine Waters is not to be trifled with has not been paying attention. A few weeks ago, during a congressional hearing, the California Democrat silenced the U.S. treasury secretary and gave voice to legions of exasperated women by repeating the phrase, “Reclaiming my time.” But Waters, 79, has not seemed shaken by the blowback. As she declared Tuesday night after receiving the social humanitarian award at BET’s Black Girls Rock ceremony, “I’m simply a strong black woman.” Waters, in her speech Tuesday, indicated that she does understand the challenge of being a strong black...

For the first time since she was crowned Miss America in 1984, Tony-nominated actress Vanessa Williams returns to the Miss America stage, Sept 13. Williams is serving as Head Judge for the "2016 Miss America Competition." She joins host Chris Harrison, co-host Brooke Burke-Charvet, music curator Nick Jonas and celebrity judges Brett Eldredge, Taya Kyle, Danica McKellar, Kevin O'Leary, Amy Purdy and Zendaya. The "Miss America Competition" airs live from Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall Sept. 13 beginning at 9 PM ET on ABC-TV. Fifty-two women compete for the coveted crown and scholarship. -