Born Sarah Breedlove, Walker descended from slaves who died when she was still a child. While many young children would have been too traumatized to overcome the death of two parents, she and her sister took jobs laboring in kitchens, and on farms until they could sustain themselves. In 1910, after forming the Hair Culturists’ Union of America in Indianapolis, she made it a point to find allies in the Black political community. She moved to New York in 1916, building (with the help of the first registered black architect) a palatial home that rivaled any in the Hudson River Valley.

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How she came into the hair business was no coincidence. Walker may have suffered from alopecia, a rare ailment that is characterized by little or no hair growth on the body. As a response to her own condition, Walker created a formula (that she claimed had been delivered to her in a dream) to restore hair growth. While many say she did invent a metal “hot comb” specifically for Black women to straighten out the curl in their roots, that is not accurate. The primary cause of her hair loss was the result of a common problem of the era i.e. infrequent washing and products that were not designed for the hair of Black women.

With her ingenious marketing in every Black publication, and her constant travel to trade shows, Walker became a household name. She interrupted Booker T. Washington’s prestigious National Negro Business League Convention after Washington had apparently ignored her requests to speak. As a woman who had founded and developed one of the nation’s most formidable businesses, she would not be denied the right to correlate with her peers on the same level.

PHOTOS: Historical Firsts For Black Women

Not one to horde her riches, Walker moved to create philanthropic projects that would help Black communities. She funded the YMCA building in Indianapolis where her business was, donated to the NAACP, and traveled to Woodrow Wilson’s White House to present an anti-lynching petition after violent outbursts had killed Blacks in an Illinois riot. She passed on her legacy of philanthropy to daughter A’Lelia, who was responsible for creating “The Dark Tower,” a salon that hosted Black writers and artists who would display their work during the Harlem Renaissance. Walker died of kidney disease, and bequeathed her estate to her female heirs.

In 1911 Madam Walker pledged $1000 toward the building fund of the black YMCA in Indianapolis. She was one of many funders.

Take a look at more great Black women in history in our gallery below:

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Shirts, bags, scarfs and items that still have yet to be revealed are available for all his loyal supporters to buy, including a few by the First Lady’s fave designers Thakoon and Jason Wu.

And they look to be under $100!

Michelle O.’s Inaugural Gown Designer Jason Wu To Create Target Collection

The Obamas Release Official 2011 Family Portrait

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10 Things You Didn’t Know About President Obama

This event was particularly special for us because it wasn’t a press conference in which we were mere observers. This was our event. This was powered by our  audience (ie. YOU). The questions you all provided for the administration fueled the discussion points on the panel. Which, by the way included a very impressive group of folks in the Obama administration:

• Melody Barnes, Director of the Domestic Policy Council
• Shaun Donovan, US Secretary for Housing and Urban Development
• Marie Johns, Deputy Administrator of the US Small Business Administration
• Ambassador Ron Kirk, US Trade Representative
• Jason Furman, Deputy Director of the National Economic Council

Not to mention that opening and closing remarks were made by Senior Advisor to the President, Valerie Jarrett.

We were led by Jeff Johnson from TheGrio.com on a panel that also included yours truly (Reppin’ for Team Beautiful!). We came armed with questions and each member of the panel answered with thoughtful responses that didn’t sound canned or prepared by an assistant. They discussed manufacturing in the 21st century; education reform in order to compete in a globalized economy and domestic issues such as  jobs, housing, taxes and healthcare.

We were getting our fill of policy just as expected.

And then it happened. About 53 minutes into the event, Melody Barnes politely interrupted Ambassador Kirk and said: “All of us have thoroughly enjoyed interacting with you all but I want to introduce someone now who I think is the best person to talk about these issues – THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, BARACK OBAMA.”

Okay, so she didn’t shout that part. But she might as well have pulled an Oprah and shouted his name. Either way, the audience, as well as those of us on the panel from Interactive One, were elated and quite honestly astounded as President Obama entered the room. Here we were – coming from New York City expecting only an informational hour with government policy heavies – and ending up having the President of The United States join us and give us his take on the importance of our audience, our work and most importantly our support in helping him pass the American Jobs Act.

Michelle Obama Graces The Cover Of Essence Magazine

He expressed the importance of our online community (yes, that’s YOU again) and that our ability to facilitate a two-way conversation between experts and communities in need is something in which he’s very interested. (watch the video here)

President Obama spent fifteen minutes with us, during many of which he answered questions from the audience and from Twitter.

On a completely different note: Barack Obama pulled a Beyonce! Stay with me here – you know how Beyonce will pop up out of nowhere and surprise a group of kids dancing at Target, or some teen girls dancing at a block party? Well, President Obama did the political version of that. We didn’t see it coming – but damn was that a great moment.

Thanks for sticking with us Team Beautiful! We’ll continue doing big things to serve you. Maybe we’ll get Oprah to pull a Beyonce at some point too.

Here, check it out for yourself!

Interactive One at the White House from BlackPlanet.com on Vimeo.

Karla Ovalle on Twitter @K_Ova

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After leading the bar in a toast … the president plunked down some cash and told the bar tender, “I just want you to know that the President pays his bar tab … that’s how we do things.”

We love these two!

SOURCE

First Lady Michelle Obama Receives Honorary Degree From Spelman College

Michelle Obama Does The Dougie [VIDEO]

President Obama

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President Obama opened his presentation stating, “I warn you – no one has seen this footage in 50 years, not even me,” and then proceeded to show the opening scenes from the Lion King movie when Simba is being born and held up for all of the jungle to see. Hilarious!

After having a few laughs over the video, President Obama went on to say,”I want to make clear to the Fox News table that was a joke. That was not my real birth video. That was a children’s cartoon. Call Disney if you don’t believe me. They have the original ‘long form’ version.”

Who knew President Obama was a comedian!?

Read the full story here.

President Barack Obama

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President Obama Visits Alabama: “I’ve Never Seen Devastation Like This”

Why You Can’t Deny That Donald Trump Is A Racist

President Obama Releases Birth Certificate, Tells Americans Get Back To Serious Issues

The deadly tornado that hit last Wednesday took more than 300 lives, making this the worst tornado in the United States since 1932. During their visit, President Obama make a conscious effort to prove that he is taking this natural disaster more seriously than previous Presidents.

He also went on to say, “We can’t bring those who are lost back. They are alongside God at this point,” and promised the city’s mayor that Washington would help repair the city and ensured them they wouldn’t be forgotten.

“What’s amazing is, when something like this happens folks forget all their petty differences , when we’re confronted by the awesome power of nature and reminded that all we have is each other.” President Obama said.

They had the opportunity to speak to survivors of the storm in a school gym later that day, and seemed to give the town a bit of hope and peace while they were there. Prayers go out to everyone involved in this tragedy.

Read more here.

President Barack Obama

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Why You Can’t Deny That Donald Trump Is A Racist

President Obama Releases Birth Certificate, Tells Americans Get Back To Serious Issues

Oprah Scared To Back President Obama For Fear Of Losing Viewers?

The President held a press conference today where he said he believed the distraction over his birth certificate wasn’t good for the country. It may have been good politics and good TV, but it was bad for the American people and distracting from the many challenges we face as a country.

Take a look:

If President Obama Was A Muslim, Would It Change How We See Him?

President Obama

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Here are a few of 2011′s TIME 100:

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And check out last year’s list here: Who Made The Cut? TIME Names 100 Most Influential People (2010)

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Oprah To Charge $1 Million For Commercial On Show Finale

The “Oprah Show” dropped in ratings in 2008 after she announced that she was backing then Illinois senator Barack Obama. These ratings showed that her audience had fallen by about 2 million viewers since 2005.  Now with OWN’s ratings not being extremely high, the company reportedly doesn’t want to take any chances in losing any of the viewers they currently have.

Sigh.

Oprah Winfrey and President Barack Obama

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Ochocinco Beats Out Barack & Oprah As Twitter’s “Most Influential”

Michelle Obama Hires New Stylist, Meredith Koop

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When slavery was finally outlawed during the Civil War, few Americans took the removal of the slaves’ shackles to mean that the African should be accorded equal status with the white man. Yet, in 1903, just 40 years after the Emancipation, one man dared to envision such a future. W.E.B. Du Bois’s book, “The Souls of Black Folk,” made its author the foremost Black thinker, writer and sociologist of the early 20th Century. More importantly, Du Bois initiated the “great debate” -integration versus segregation, the insistence of equality versus the accommodation of racism – that set in motion a chain of events, ultimately leading to the election of first Black President of the United States. The very election of Barack Obama is a vindication of the convictions and tireless work of W.E.B. Du Bois.

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was born in Great Barrington, MA, on February 23rd, 1868. Du Bois attended Fisk University, and became the first Black American in history to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard. His intellectual upbringing informed his philosophies, as later expressed in “The Souls of Black Folk.” Du Bois coined the term “double consciousness” to describe the way that Black Americans led their lives as human beings, yet second-class citizens, in an America that was born on the concept that all men are created equal. Du Bois believed that the path to liberty would lie in educating the top echelon, or “Talented Tenth,” of African-Americans to lead the rest.

Du Bois’s main adversaries were Marcus Garvey and Booker T. Washington. Garvey believed that the quest for parity with white Americans was foolish, and proposed to repatriate freed Blacks to Africa. Washington believed that Du Bois’s tactics would antagonize whites and lead to a disastrous race war. Du Bois called Washington “the Great Accomodator.” Not surprisingly, Washington was favored among the white leaders of his day.

Du Bois was one of the initial founders of the National Association For The Advancement of Colored People, and thus laid the groundwork not only for the Civil Rights movement, but the very idea of partnership with liberal whites to achieve socio-political results.

Du Bois became more radical towards the end of his life, joining the Communist Party in the 1961 at the age of 93, and expatriating to Ghana shortly thereafter. W.E.B. Du Bois died in 1963, just one day before the March on Washington.

Du Bois’s intellect, his insistence on equal rights for Black Americans, and his willingness to form a coalition with whites to achieve his ends formed the model by which Barack Obama ascended to the highest office in the land, and in so doing, liberating us all from the tyranny of racism.

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Despite the rough nature of his sport, Muhammad Ali was one of the smoothest persons ever to walk the Earth. His poetic verse and well-considered metaphors came out a time during the 1960s when boxers were
better known for punching than speaking. But Muhammad Ali did speak, and spoke intelligently – in a loud, boisterous and uncompromising voice. In this way, Ali was the public epitome of the Black man who
would not be denied and would not back down. Ali, in a way, made it okay to be that man. Barack Obama, and all Black men of his generation, inherited that legacy and that gift from Muhammad Ali.

Born Cassius Clay in Louisville, Kentucky in 1942, Muhammad Ali grewup as a Baptist. Clay took to the sport of amateur boxing at the age of 12, where he won two national Golden Gloves titles and eventually won the gold medal in the 1960 Rome Olympics. Ali won a staggering 100 matches with only 5 losses in his amateur career before turning pro in 1960. In his first title fight, Clay triumphed over Sonny Liston with a T.K.O., after having brazenly said he would “shock the world” by doing so. Ali would win many more professional fights in his pro career, 56 in all, in which his winning was no longer all that shocking.

Outside of the boxing ring, Clay was just as powerful. His conversion to Islam, which prompted his name change, made him extremely controversial. Muhammad Ali often publicly declared his allegiance to
Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad during a time when Elijah was regarded with a great deal of hostility by Americans. Ali also supported controversial Nation of Islam beliefs, such as separatism,
and he was also avidly against interracial marriage. Despite his contentious beliefs, Ali remained well regarded by the public.

Ali declared himself a conscientious objector during the height of the Vietnam War. “I ain’t got no quarrel with them Viet Cong,” Ali said. “No Viet Cong ever called me nigger.” In 1967, Ali was convicted of
draft evasion and stripped of his boxing license and titles. After a four-year legal battle, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned his conviction in 1971.

Ali was involved in two of the most prominent fights in the history of the sport. First in 1971, there was the “Fight of the Century” in which Ali and Joe Frazier faced each other in Madison Square Garden.
The fight was hyped by sportscasters, newspapers, and of course, Ali’s diatribes. Joe Frazier had become known for his backing of the Vietnam War, while Ali was, of course, vociferously against it. It was a match
of undefeated wills and opposing idealisms. Ultimately, Frazier would win, but in two rematches, Ali was the victor both times, accumulating wins that essentially cemented his legacy. Ali was also the winner of
the “Rumble in the Jungle”, where he knocked George Foreman out and was the impetus behind the term “Rope-A-Dope.”

Since his retirement in 1981, Ali has used his boxing as a pedestal. He has traveled the world many times over, lending both his name and his prestige to honorable causes, especially that of hunger.

Ali’s independent and brazen character during a time of great racial tension was a symbol for all those who admired him as a boxer and as a man. His endeavors helped him earn a Presidential Medal of Freedom and
helped blaze the path for a Black man to be himself in front of the entire nation, just as Barack Obama was throughout his run for the Presidency.

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“I think a lot of laughing. I think in our house we don’t take ourselves too seriously, and laughter is the best form of unity, I think, in a marriage. So we still find ways to have fun together, and a lot of it is private and personal. But we keep each other smiling and that’s good.”

She added that Barack is “very romantic.”

“He remembers dates, birthdays. He doesn’t forget a thing, even when I think he is. . I’ll have a little attitude. I give him a little attitude, but he always comes through,” he told Regis and Kelly last week.

And like every woman, she considers jewelry the best gift. “You can’t go wrong,” she said. Read more here.

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A'Lelia Bundles/Madam Walker Family Archives/madamcjwalker.com

If there is one person from history whose impact on the Black woman’s self-image rivals that of Oprah Winfrey, it is the hair mogul Madame C.J. Walker. Walker was the first successful Black female entrepreneur. Her insistence on involvement in both the business world and civic affairs predates Oprah’s story, and to the extent that Walker created the Winfrey archetype, Barack Obama’s presidency may not have been possible without the great Madame C.J. Walker.

Born Sarah Breedlove, Walker descended from slaves who died when she was still a child. While many young children would have been too traumatized to overcome the death of two parents, she and her sister took jobs laboring in kitchens, and on farms until they could sustain themselves. In 1910, after forming the Hair Culturists’ Union of America in Indianapolis, she made it a point to find allies in the Black political community. She moved to New York in 1916, building (with the help of the first registered black architect) a palatial home that rivaled any in the Hudson River Valley.

How she came into the hair business was no coincidence. Walker may have suffered from alopecia, a rare ailment that is characterized by little or no hair growth on the body. As a response to her own condition, Walker created a formula (that she claimed had been delivered to her in a dream) to restore hair growth. While many say she did invent a metal “hot comb” specifically for Black women to straighten out the curl in their roots, that is not accurate. The primary cause of her hair loss was the result of a common problem of the era i.e. infrequent washing and products that were not designed for the hair of black women.

With her ingenious marketing in every Black publication, and her constant travel to trade shows, Walker became a household name. She interrupted Booker T. Washington’s prestigious National Negro Business League Convention after Washington had apparently ignored her requests to speak. As a woman who had founded and developed one of the nation’s most formidable businesses, she would not be denied the right to correlate with her peers on the same level.

Not one to horde her riches, Walker moved to create philanthropic projects that would help Black communities. She funded the YMCA building in Indianapolis where her business was, donated to the NAACP, and traveled to Woodrow Wilson’s White House to present an anti-lynching petition after violent outbursts had killed Blacks in an Illinois riot. She passed on her legacy of philanthropy to daughter A’Lelia, who was responsible for creating “The Dark Tower,” a salon that hosted Black writers and artists who would display their work during the Harlem Renaissance. Walker died of kidney disease, and bequeathed her estate to her female heirs.

In 1911 Madam Walker pledged $1000 toward the building fund of the black YMCA in Indianapolis. She was one of many funders.

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CELEBRATE BLACK HISTORY MONTH WITH US!

President Obama Gives Gabrielle Union A job

Will Smith wants to be President.  No seriously!

Gabrielle has publicly revealed that she was raped at gunpoint at the age of 19, and that the tips she’d seen on an episode of Oprah’s talk show helped her survive.

Gabrielle has known Barack since he was a junior senator in Illinois. No word on what the job will entail, but so far she’s called this gig the most “fulfilling” of them all.

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Gabrielle Union

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In 1940, one Black novelist dared to show America what white supremacy did to one Black man. When “Native Son” appeared on America’s bookshelves, it became an instant bestseller, the first title by an African-American author selected by the Book-of-the-Month Club. It also introduced the world to the complicated protagonist of “Native Son,” Chicago’s Bigger Thomas, who was driven to murder a white woman through his terror of white people, not because of hate. Wright, as an accomplished writer, a prophet, and a leftist, helped cut the path on which Barack Obama walked into Chicago’s South Side, onto the local and national political stage, and now, the White House.

Richard Wright, the grandson of slaves, was born on a plantation in Mississippi in 1908. Shuffled between Mississippi and Memphis for most of his childhood, Wright published his first short story, “The Voodoo of Hell’s Half-Acre,” when he was 15. In 1927, after graduating high school, Wright moved to Chicago, where he worked for the post office and wrote in his spare time. During the Great Depression, Wright affiliated with the Communist Party, and Wright penned many of his earliest works for leftist publications. Richard Wright’s career blossomed after he moved to New York in 1937. He mentored Ralph Ellison, published an acclaimed book of short stories called “Uncle Tom’s Children,” and with the help of a Guggenheim Fellowship, wrote “Native Son,” published in 1940.

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“Native Son” was criticized by many people for its violence. Black critics targeted Wright for writing a spectacle that seemed to confirm white America’s worst racist fantasies about Black men. But the book catapulted Wright to the top echelon of American letters. He published his autobiography, “Black Boy,” in 1945.

After World War II, Richard Wright expatriated to France, where he fell in with noted existentialist writer/philosophers like Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus. He traveled to Africa in the 1950s, where he contracted dysentery. The illness contributed to Wright’s failing health before his death in Paris in 1960 of a heart attack. Wright was only 52.

Richard Wright greatly influenced the mindset of white liberals in the 1940s and 50s, and his work inspired the Black activists of the 1960s. “Wright,” said Amiri Baraka, “was one of the people who made me conscious of the need to struggle.” Without a doubt, Wright inspired Barack Obama, too.

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When Booker T. Washington stepped to the podium at the Atlanta Exposition in 1895 to give a speech on race relations, two things happened.

First, many fellow Black Americans, including W.E.B. Du Bois, derided his speech as “The Atlanta Compromise,” because Washington called the agitation for social equality “the extremest folly,” advocating instead slow, steady, and segregated self-improvement for the American Negro.

Second, Booker T. Washington’s was acclaimed by the white power structure, and his less threatening approach to progress proclaimed in the press. Washington himself was elevated to the status of the pre-eminent “Negro leader,” at least in the eyes of white folks. Washington alone had access to the ears and pockets of millionaires like Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller. Washington alone received an invitation to Teddy Roosevelt’s White House in 1901.

His debate with Du Bois — who called Washington “The Great Accommodator” — has been simplified to one of segregation versus integration. But Washington secretly contributed to anti-segregationist causes, all the while publically advocating an industrial education for Negroes, rather than the liberal arts education that Du Bois favored. Most notably, Booker T. Washington, who was born a slave, went on to found the Tuskeegee Institute, one of the first historically black colleges.

Washington was not a radical, and he caught hell from activists who wanted to move faster. In our time, Barack Obama’s moderate policies, his willingness to meet with his political adversaries, and his advocacy of Black self-reliance rankles many liberals and older Black leaders. As such, Obama and Booker T. Washington share a legacy of both personal achievement in the face of past adversity; and, in some ways, prudent accommodation with the larger power structure.

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The Obamas, Beyonce and Jay-Z, and Boris Kodjoe and Nicole Ari Parker all scored a cover, while Lala & Carmelo Anthony were included inside.

See behind-the-scenes footage of Boris & Nicole’s shoot:

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In other news, President Obama has stopped smoking. The White House Press secretary says that he hasn’t witnessed the president smoking in nine months.

HelloBeautiful Goes To The White House!

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Barack In Hawaii

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Barack joins (to much applause) at the 1:30 mark.

Love them.

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Barack and Michelle

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I remember thinking how much I wished my grandmother Cora was alive to see this day. Everyone I knew, both family and friends were texting across the states about the length of their line. Like me, no one seemed to mind. We all just wanted to hear, what we ultimately heard “Barack Obama, President of the United States of America.”

Those memories surfaced this week while attending a friend’s gathering. Two years ago we were all staunch Obama supporters. Now it appeared things had changed with their support either diminishing or being nonexistent. Many of their comments were hard to believe. Unable to sit there silently, I asked the question “what happened to the support we once shared?” The response, “Girl please!”

I am disappointed to hear one time Obama supporters wavering on whether or not they are going to vote in this mid-term election. Comments like, “nothing is changing, so what is the benefit, as a matter of fact, it appears things have gotten worst,” is disheartening. When I think of the conditions of the prior administration, how could I expect 2 years to be enough time?

There are so many opinions circulating in the communities, as well as, the air waves. It is emotional for me because I have been blessed to live through many conditions in this country; good and bad. Even though a young child, watching a black and white television, I remember. When I think that the right to vote has not always been available to me, I cannot stay home. When I think about the struggle of my ancestors to pave a better day, I cannot stay home.

It is in the memory of my grandmother Cora, a seamstress in the White House, forced to enter from the back door, that I will once again cast my vote.

By Tanya Wilson

360You

Read more columns by Tanya Wilson, an inspirational speaker based in Charlotte. Find her on Facebook.

HelloBeautiful Goes To The White House

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The new Miss Black USA is none other than Miss Connecticut USA, Osas Ighodaro. Ms. Ighodaro is a professionally trained actress, and she performed her winning talent, “What If I Am a Black Woman” in four dialects. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Broadcast Journalism from Pennsylvania State University. She is also a Master of Fine Arts degree candidate for Pace University.Upon winning the title, Osas said:

“It’s an honor to be crowned where President Barack Obama and the First Lady Michelle Obama resides. It would be my dream to meet the First Lady,” stated Ms. Ighodaro during the post pageant press conference at Ben’s Next Door.”

Ms. Ighodaro will serve as the celebrity advocate for the pageant’s national partnership with the Heart Truth® campaign to increase awareness of heart disease.

SOURCE

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In an historical move, the President will appear on today’s episode of The View.  President Obama said the only reason he had chosen this show over all the others was because his wife Michelle watched it.

Take a look:

“The View’s” Elizabeth Hasselbeck Takes On Shirley Sherrod [VIDEO]

Obama On “The View”: What Would You Ask Him?

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Shirley Sherrod appeared last week on The View and was met with some sharp questions. But the former public servant, still at the heart of controversy, was quick to rebut, especially in relation to the comments about race directed to her by none-other than Elizabeth Hasselbeck.

It’s no wonder The View continues to enjoy some of television’s strongest ratings statistics. Since a record breaking 6.2 million viewers tuned into watch the show the day after Obama won the 2008 presidential election, ratings have soared to even stronger heights. And it clearly has to do with the show’s cast and guest lineup: The conservative Elizabeth Hasselbeck, the outspoken Rosie O’Donnell (former cast member), Whoopi Goldberg, and the 80-year-old media powerhouse Barbara Walters, as well as guests like the Obamas.

Obama On “The View”: What Would You Ask Him?

Why Is “Interracial” Such A Sensitive Term For Some Black Women?

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In an historic daytime appearance, President Barack Obama will feature on Thursday’s episode of The View. The show, being filmed today, will feature the first appearance of a sitting president on The View and is bound to be a heated experience. So we want to know, if you were one of The View panelist, what would you ask President Obama?

Check out some clips from his last guest appearance:

Drake Wants To Play Obama On Screen

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Drake has made the cover of a new another magazine, Paper, where he addresses negative bloggers, staying calm, and playing Obama in a future film.

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On playing Obama: I hope somebody makes a movie about Obama’s life soon because I could play him. That’s the goal [laughs]. I watch all the addresses. Anytime I see him on TV, I don’t change the channel, I definitely pay attention and listen to the inflections of his voice. If you ask anyone who knows me, I’m pretty good at impressions. Slowly but surely, I’m not in the study mode because nobody’s called me about anything, but I just pay attention so when the day comes I’m not scrambling to learn how to speak like him. I want to be involved in great film projects. I don’t want to do the basketball movie that everyone does. I don’t want to do the typical black film that everyone expects. I think that I have enough experience to actually be involved in a real meaty project full of substance.

On negative blog commenters: I definitely haven’t said this before, but I stopped going on a computer. I have a problem where if I go read a hundred positive things about me and there’s one guy in there who says ‘I hate Drake’ that’s the one I pay attention to. I think that’s a common problem. Negativity hurts us more than positivity helps us. I asked about 10 or 20 people around me, ‘When’s the last time you went on a website and commented on something, like a song dropped and you went on and said, ‘That song is hot’ or ‘That song is terrible?’ And everyone I asked around me, whose opinions I respect, the people I love, were like, ‘I’ve never done that before.’ And these are all level-headed, intelligent people whose opinion I respect, so I just started saying to myself, ‘It takes a certain type of individual to really participate in a group discussion about someone else, especially if they’re going super hard with consistent hate.

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Much discussion was made during the last presidential election about just what it meant to be ‘black.’ The result of that election saw the triumph of America’s first [insert either: black, African-American, mixed, interracial, Hawaiian, half Kenyan, former resident of Indonesia, son of a white mother, who-knows-what] President.

Some are asking: “Does it really matter?,” “Is it a point of discussion of convenience?”

Or in relation to President Obama: “Why do people make his race an issue when he largely avoided the topic during his campaign?”

But other commentators care strongly about the issue of race, asking: “Why call a person ‘black’ when he/she isn’t fully black?

And, “Why include people in discussions of black-American issues when they do not descent from the men and women who were subject to or fought against slavery in America”

Here at HelloBeautiful we have read many a user’s comment, reaching the conclusion that some black women are very reactive to the term ‘interracial.’

Take Zoe Saldana for example. We congratulated her about her recent engagement without even mentioning her racial background, but HB users reacted heatedly to the post. Read some of their comments here: Congrats! Zoe Saldana Is Engaged!

And, in March we uploaded a video of Jill Scott when she was forced to clarify her statements about interracial dating in Essence magazine. To date, that story has received almost 700 user comments. You can read them here: VIDEO: Jill Scott On Interracial Dating, “We Should Hold On To Our Culture”

And this isn’t the first time our readers have reacted strongly to the same topic. Just check out some of our other controversial posts:

3 Things To Know When Dating A White Man – 128 Comments

Where’s She From? Favorite Celebrities’ Cultural Backgrounds – 101 Comments

The “Birthday Sex” Girl’s Not White. And Why Do You Care So Much, Anyway? - 111 Comments

Some major criticisms of these articles included:

“You’re trying to divide the black community!”

“Why are you discussing issues of race when this site is open to all black women?”

“HB is trying to divide and conquer.”

“Zoe Saldana is not black. So why is she even on HB?”

and “You’re favoring light-skinned women.”

Well, here at HelloBeautiful we want to make one thing clear: Black is beautiful and it comes in all shades. LisaRaye agreed, saying: “We Are The Only Race That Comes In Multiple Colors”

‘Interracial’ is a term that many black women recognize as close to the heart. We will endeavor to continue promoting positive self esteem for all black women and if you don’t believe us have a look at some of latest inspiring articles:

10 Strong Beautiful Black Women To Celebrate This 4th Of July – 7 comments

NYC Clothing Line Asks Local Kenyan Talent To Produce Entire Collection – o Comments

PHOTOS: Gucci Adds “Color” To Latest Campaign - 4 Comments

GALLERY: Russian Vogue Profiles Promising Black Models – 2 Comments

Italian Vogue Launches Web Pages For Black & Curvy Women - 18 Comments

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Sasha Obama is 9 years old today and she’s celebrating with her classmates today on their last day of school.

Sasha’s parents traveled to Sidwell Friends School in Bethesda, Md., for a morning event with Sasha. About 10 hours later — after several White House meetings and a trip to the State Department — the president joined Mrs. Obama and her mother, Marian Robinson, at the Sidwell school Malia attends in northwest Washington.

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First Lady’s Obesity Campaign Hits Close To Home

Michelle O: “What You See Is The Real Me”

VIDEO: Relive Michelle Obama’s NYC Culinary Tour Pt 2

GALLERY: Gabourey Sidibe & Celebs Hit Up White House Dinner

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President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle are on the cover of the March issue of ESSENCE.

They spoke to the mag about education and how they deal with educating First Daughters Sasha and Malia:

President Barack says, “Malia will tell you, my attitude was, if she came home with a B, that’s not good enough because there’s no reason why she can’t get an ‘A’…”

According to the press release:

ESSENCE kicks off the first of its three-part education series, Teaching Our Children, with a White House exclusive—an interview with President Barack Obama. In his first interview of 2010, he talks tough with ESSENCE editor-in-chief Angela

Burt-Murray, Deputy Editor Tatsha Robertson and Washington Correspondent Cynthia Gordy about holding teachers accountable, closing the education gap between Black and White students, how he and First Lady Michelle Obama encourage daughters Malia and Sasha to love learning, and how you can do the same with your own children.

Michelle O: “What You See Is The Real Me”

Will Smith Wants To Be President. No, Seriously.

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