Todd A. Smith

At first glance, Just Wright can be seen through advertisements as something of a mixture between a sports flick and a chick flick. Rapper-turned-actress Queen Latifah stars as Leslie Wright, a struggling physical therapist, who after a chance meeting at a New Jersey gas station meets NBA star Scott McKnight...

Before moviegoers became mesmerized by the stunning beauty of Halle Berry, Laura London and Paula Patton, the legendary Lena Horne graced the silver screen despite facing racism of epidemic proportions. Although she never achieved the critical and commercial acclaim that she deserved, Lena Horne is the pioneer of all African American...

On April 23, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer reignited a fire that had slowed to a simmer over the last couple of years, signing perhaps one of the strictest laws on immigration this country has seen. According to CNN.com, the law would require all immigrants to carry their alien registration forms at...

Most young adults can remember their parents criticizing their taste in music during their childhood. If you grew up during the hip-hop explosion of the 1980s and 1990s, rappers and some sexually provocative R&B singers were blamed for the lack of morals amongst the younger generation. The influence of music was...

Very few people are blessed to meet people who drastically change their lives for the better. Ive had the good fortune to work for many Black publishers in Houston, but none that loomed larger than Lenora Doll Carter of the Houston Forward Times, who passed away on April 10, of...

The Jackson Five epitomized Black History. Their meteoric rise from humble beginnings to the top of the pop charts inspired countless Black youth to dream and to put in the work to make those dreams of reality. After the tragic passing of Michael Jackson eight months ago, Jackson-mania, not seen since...

From the historic 1965 election of Carl Stokes as mayor of Cleveland to the momentous joy felt throughout Black America after President Barack Obama

Since the first African slaves arrived on the shores of America, Black empowerment has always depended on the strength of Black Americans to succeed despite the obstacles they were forced to overcome. When many Black politicians gained political power during Reconstruction, organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan emerged to thwart...

The numbers are staggering. According to Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., two-thirds of all African American men who begin pursuing an undergraduate degree, fail to complete that degree. For those who do complete their undergraduate degree, even fewer go on to complete a post-baccalaureate degree. In 2000, African American men comprised...

Any diehard college football fan knows that the season does not get started until late October or early November, when the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) controversy takes center stage, and fans throughout the country debate who the best teams are in the NCAA. Fans of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) will argue...