Hip-hop’s first couple, Jay-Z and Beyoncé, finally made it to the White House … only for a visit that is.

Jay and B visited the nation’s First Family at the White house on Wednesday (March 3) while in town during a stop on the “BP3″ tour, where he performed at the city’s Verizon Center.

A White House official said the rapper — alongside his wife/singer Beyonce, her mother Tina Knowles, singer Trey Songz, and industry veteran Kevin Liles — toured the residence.

Then later, Jay actually had a quick, unscheduled visit with President Obama, said the Washington Post.

In an interview with Interview magazine last month, Jay reflected on his rise from the streets all the way to the White House, saying it “was crazy” that he could even meet with these powerful people.

“For me, being with [President] Obama or having dinner with Bill Clinton … It’s crazy. It’s mind-blowing, because where I come from is just another world. We were just ignored by politicians — by America in general.”

GALLERY: Beyonce’s New “House Of Dereon” Ads

Beyonce: “Ask Jay If He Wants To Have Kids!”

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.

Well, Barack did say that if a movie was ever made about him, he’d like Will Smith to fulfill the lead role, but does that mean that Will is fit to venture into politics, even off-camera?

His wife Jada Pinkett Smith has revealed that her actor husband is seriously considering swapping the big screen for politics and has his eye on one day making it all the way to the White House.

“Will is thinking about going into politics,” Jada said. “He once said he could imagine becoming a US president. He wasn’t joking, he was quite serious about it.”

But, don’t think that Jada is completely on-board just yet. On becoming the First Lady, she said, “It’s just not for me.”

However, Jada — who raises two children, 11-year-old Jaden and nine-year-old Willow, with Will — does enjoy engaging in politics. She wants the education system in the US reformed and is prepared to campaign for change.

“Will and I want to leave traces on this planet – and with that I mean more important traces than just films,” she said.

Is Willow Smith’s Haircut Too Old For Her Age?

Jay-Z, Will and Jada To Produce Broadway Musical

President Barack Obama and our First Lady Michelle made heads turn last night when they arrived for dinner at the Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh, PA for the G-20 Summit. The President met with world leaders and their spouses to kick off the two-day assembly aimed at promoting economic growth.

The Obamas Speak On What Almost Ruined Their Marriage

GALLERY: Obamas Martha’s Vineyard Vacation

A new book is claiming that Barack and Michelle Obama were on the rocks before the historical election, and everyone’s up in arms about people “slandering” our President and First Lady. According to the NY Daily News,

In the new book “Renegade,” about Obama’s barrier-breaking run for the presidency, author Richard Wolffe recounts a stretch in 2000 when the Obama’s marriage was a lot frostier than it appears today.

“There was little conversation and even less romance,” Wolffe, who covered Obama’s campaign for Newsweek magazine, wrote of that period. “She was angry at his selfishness and careerism; he thought she was cold and ungrateful.”

At the time, Obama was a young state senator who had decided to run a Democratic primary against incumbent Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Chicago) – a contest Obama lost by a dismal 2-1 margin. Michelle was a new mom with two-year-old Malia at home and Sasha, born in June 2001, not far off.

“She hated the failed race for Congress in 2000, and their marriage was strained by the time their youngest daughter, Sasha, was born,” Wolffe wrote. “Politics seemed like a waste of time to Michelle.”

Here’s my question: Why should the media be expected to leave out stories like this, just because they involve our President and First Lady? One could take it to be a slanderous news item, but others could see it the way I see it – Barack and Michelle aren’t perfect. In fact, the trials and tribulations of their coupledom are just like the trials and tribulations of ours. Know why? Cause they’re effing human. And the fact that they had this alleged relationship rift 9 years ago and were able to get through it to become what they are today is more beautiful than the cookie cutter love the newspapers want to make their marriage out to be. If anything, it makes them more normal than they’ve ever been, and while it might be a tough sell to say that it means you and your man might eventually become a power couple like the Obamas, at least it gives you hope that your problems are shared by one of the most successful couples on the planet…and that you’ll get through them, eventually. Just like they did.

So I’m posting this “rumor” for all to see, and I want to know everything you readers have to say about it. Let me have it. Cause I ain’t budging.

Check out this gallery of Shelly and Barry looking all cute on Date Night. If they can do it, you can too! Amen.

[From Essence.com]

The Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr., is one of the only other African-American men to be seriously considered for the Democratic nomination as president. Rev. Jackson’s two presidential campaigns hit a milestone in U.S. politics: in 1984, his campaign registered over 1 million new voters, won 3.5 million votes and aided the Democrats in regaining control of the Senate in 1986. In 1988, his campaign registered over 2 million new voters and won 7 million votes.

A civil rights leader and founder of the RainbowPUSH Coalition, Inc., Jackson sat down to write an open letter to President Barack Obama. With the passion Jackson is known for, he challenges the nation’s first Black President to carefully examine important policies including those relating to the economy, education and Voting Rights Act.

To read the letter, click here!

Last week I shared with you all my challenges in discussing race with my six-year-old, and I just wanted to share what’s happened since.

After the MLK assignment, which required him to color in Dr. King, Justin was given an assignment on Abraham Lincoln. As with the MLK homework, Justin was instructed to color in the president, or he would actually lose points onhis assignment. With no instruction from us we left him to color in the picture of Abraham Lincoln. The image above is what he created.

Yeah So we asked him why he colored in Abraham Lincoln brown. He could have said a number of things, like “he’s on a penny, and a penny is brown,” or he “looked brown in the picture.” And it’s unlikely he’s read Leroy Vaughn¹s book, Black People and Their Place In World History, which asserts that Lincoln indeed had African ancestry. So why did he do it?

“He was a president and the President is brown.”

Wow. Wherever you stand on the debate of Barack¹s race and its relevance to us, the impact has been made and it is undeniable. Of course we corrected him and told him that not every president is brown by default, but dangit if I didn¹t smile on the inside. His mind is open to possibilities that we never imagined at his age, and that is change I can believe in.

Oprah Winfrey has been one of Barack Obama’s biggest celebrity supporters. So why WOULDN’T she take her show to Washington, DC for inauguration?!

The acclaimed talk show host told Access Hollywood recently that she’d be taking her show on the road, hosting “The Oprah Winfrey Show” from Washington, DC during the week of the inauguration. No word on who her big-name guests will be, but she revealed that the show would be filmed at the Opera House of the Kennedy Center for the week. We’ll be tuning in!

President-elect Barack Obama is Ebony magazine’s Person of The Year. The magazine booked their first interview and photo shoot since his Nov. 4 historic victory. Look for this collector’s edition on newstands December 9th.

Read more here.