WATCH: Obama Comments On #TrayvonMartin Case

Celebrity Friday: Whitney Cause Of Death Released

*sigh* More than a month after the sad event, the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office has finally released the report on the official cause of death Whitney Houston's untimely demise at age 48 the Beverly Hills on February 11 (the day before the 2012 Grammy Awards).

CNN reports:

Whitney Houston died from an accidental drowning in a hotel bathtub, but the "effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use" were contributing factors in her death, the Los Angeles County Coroner said in an initial autopsy report released Thursday.

Houston, 48, was "found submerged in bathtub filled with water" and "no trauma or foul play is suspected," the coroner said in a one-page release.

Her cocaine use appeared to have "in the time period just immediately prior to her collapse in the bathtub at the hotel," Assistant Chief Coroner Craig Harvey told reporters.

The 60% narrowing of her arteries "suggest a cardiac event complicated by the cocaine use" led to Houston slipping underwater, Harvey said.

"Something happened that caused her to go down and we know that when she slipped under the water she was still alive," he said. "We have evidence of drowning since there was water in the lungs."

The toxicology tests found other drugs in her body, including marijuana, the anti-anxiety drug Xanax, the muscle relaxant Flexeril and the allergy medicine Benadryl, the report said. But these drugs "did not contribute to the death," it said.

This is just sad, sad news, although not that surprising. Note that prescription drugs are not the culprit, but heart disease (presumably) due to (longtime) cocaine use.

Celebrating 100th Anniversary of Bayard Rustin's Birth

Martin Luther King, Jr (left) with Bayard Rustin, one of the key architects
and organizing strategists of the Afrcan American civil rights movement

Today is March 17, 2012, the centennial of the birth of Bayard Rustin, a giant in the Civil Rights Movement for racial equality, and an openly Black gay man. Rustin is well-known as Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "right hand man," the organizer of the 1963 March on Washington where King gave his "I Have A Dream" speech. Rustin was also one of the co-founders of the Congress on Racial Equality (CORE) and a primary organizer of the Freedom Rides of the 1960s.

Despite being the subject of an award-winning documentary called Brother Outsider (available on Netflix), the history and legacy of Rustin is not as well-known as it should be, although that is starting to change. For example, recently the City of Berkeley issued a proclamation in recognition of Bayard Rustin's 100th Birthday, but really an activist of his significance and impact one would expect multiple proclamations from various cities around the country.

Happily, the country's only national Black LGBT organization, the National Black Justice Coalition, has realized the opportunity of Bayard Rustin's centennial and is using it to organize a year-long series of events, in conjunction with the producers of the documentary, that they are calling the Bayard Rustin Centennial Project:

To honor Rustin's courage and his invaluable legacy, NBJC will spend this year celebrating the beloved "unsung hero" through its commissioned Bayard Rustin Centennial Project and in ongoing collaborations with Walter Naegle, Bayard's surviving partner and Executor/Archivist of the Estate of Bayard Rustin. NBJC is also working with Nancy Kates and Bennett Singer, co-producers and co-directors of Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin, a biographical documentary that asserts Rustin's significance in American history. The recipient of more than 25 awards, Brother Outsider has been screened at The United Nations, The Kennedy Center, and for Members of Congress. 

"The National Black Justice Coalition is looking forward to spearheading this collaborative movement to bring greater visibility to the invaluable legacy of Bayard Rustin.  We recognize and value that our mission mirrors his life's work - to eradicate racism and homophobia," says NBJC's Executive Director Sharon Lettman-Hicks. 

"Furthermore, his identity as an out Black gay man in the Civil Rights Movement lends validity to our belief that legal rights and protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people of all ethnicities are not just civil rights, but human rights, and that Black LGBT people absolutely deserve a place at the table of equality." 

NBJC's Bayard Rustin Centennial Project is honored to join in the year-long series of celebratory events taking place across the country and to build upon more than 30 years of Black LGBT community tributes to the late, great, beloved freedom fighter.

I'm sure that as more people learn about Bayard Rustin, they too will be as inspired by his life and legacy as I was when I co-founded the Barbara Jordan / Bayard Rustin Coalition, a Los Angeles-area Black LGBT community education and social justice advocacy organization in 2006.

Happy Birthday, Bayard!

Viola Davis To Star in Barbara Jordan Biopic

Rod 2.0 is reporting that a major motion picture about Black lesbian icon and civil rights pioneer Barbara Jordan is being put together to star Oscar nominee Vioa Davis and be directed by openly gay, award-winning director Paris Barclay.

Variety reports about the deal:

Davis is eyeing the project as a starring vehicle that she will produce with her husband, Julius Tennon, through their JuVee banner along with Barclay, Shelly Glasser and Diane Nabatoff.

Glasser and Nabatoff optioned rights to the biography "Barbara Jordan: American Hero," by Mary Beth Rogers. Scribe Paris Qualles is adapting the book for a pic that traces Jordan's rise from a poor Houston neighborhood to an elected member of Congress and an influential figure in liberal politics.

Glasser and Nabatoff initiated the project a few years ago and made separate overtures to Davis and Barclay. The thesp and the helmer have been looking for a project to collaborate on ever since Davis starred in Barclay's CBS medical drama "City of Angels" in 2000. The prospect of telling the story of Jordan, who died at age 59 of leukemia in 1996, resonated immediately with both of them.

And Rod tells us about the LGBT angle:

Jordan was the first African American to serve in the Texas Senate since Reconstruction, the first black woman elected to Congress from the South, and the first to deliver the keynote address at a national party convention.

But, given how private a life she led, Jordan was considered something of a mystery, even to her close friends–friends who didn’t know about the illness that would eventually kill her at just 59 years old…. And while she never publicly discussed her sexual orientation (not that she had to), Jordan’s obituary mentioned her long-term (30-year) relationship with Nancy Earl, an educational psychologist.

[...]

Jordan died in 1996. [Ten] years later, the Jordan/Rustin Coalition was created in California in her namesake and that of Bayard Rustin. JRC organizes and mobilizes the Black LGBT community around Los Angeles.

There are lots of projects in Hollywood which are announced by press release and articles in Variety that never get actualized into movies in the theater. But this is an exciting announcement. There are many bloggers in joining me in the the hope that it gets made, and it earns Davis her much deserved Best Actress Oscar!

FUSION 2012: LGBT POC Film Festival in 3 Weeks

The 2012 Fusion LGBT People of Color film festival is March 22-25th in Los Angeles. I have attended several editions of this film festival over the years, which is sui generis in its focus on screening moving images of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people of color.

You can read my coverage of the 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011 editions of the film festival, which is a project of OutFest, the Los Angeles Lesbian and Gay Film festival.

I am going to buy a Crew Member/Fusion Pass for $50 which apparently brings all the following benefits:

A ticket for- Gala screening of THE SKINNY and after party- FUSION SHORTS PROGRAM 1 and 2- CHUTNEY POPCORN- OUTSET SHORTS PROGRAM- CAR WASH dance-and-singalong- STUD LIFE- JOTALOGUES performance

as well as supporting the organization which makes sure that future editions of the event occur! The Skinny is the third feature film from Patrik-Ian Polk, the creator-director of the black gay television series Noah's Arc and writer-director of the classic film Punks and Jumping the Broom.

Celebrity Friday: Paris Barclay, A Gay, Black A-list Director

Paris Barclay is a highly acclaimed, openly gay television director who has worked on many high-profile television series such as Lost, Glee, ER, House, Sons of Anarchy, The West Wing and Smash, among others. He is the most prominent openly gay, African-American person in Hollywood.

Karen Ocamb has posted an incredible profile of Barclay at her LGBTPOV blog:

But what makes Barclay so notable – more so than being prolific and fiscally reliable – is his determined, smart passion for justice and equality. That Glee Emmy nomination was for a Nov. 11, 2009 episode called “Wheels” that won him a DGA Award, a Peabody Award for excellence in broadcasting and the Visionary Leadership Award at the 2010 Shane’s Inspiration Gala for highlighting the abilities of people with disabilities. Glee creator Ryan Murphy called it “the turning point for the show.” And TV Guide named the “Hearts and Souls” episode of NYPD Blue (where Jimmy Smit’s character dies) and the “Three Stories” episode of House in their 100 Best Episodes of All Time.
[...]
But Paris Barclay doesn’t just integrate his passion for justice and equality in his craft: he lives it. In the Los Angeles LGBT and HIV/AIDS communities, he is known for his long commitment to improving the lives of others. He has raised funds for the Van Ness Recovery House, for Project Angel Food during the harrowing 1990s and the Black AIDS Institute, founded by his cousin, longtime HIV/AIDS activist Phill Wilson, among other HIV/AIDS and LGBT organizations. When Project Angel Food honored him with their Founders Award in 1998, Barclay said: “I consider my work for this organization my highest accomplishment….What’s the point of any success if you don’t give something back?”

That's why Paris Barclay is today's Celebrity Friday.

Celebrity Friday: Keisha Waites, Openly Lesbian GA Legislator

Keisha Waites is the 4th openly
 LGBT member of the Georgia Legislature

Keisha Waites is today's choice for Celebrity Friday because she recently became the third openly gay member of the Georgia Legislature who is also African American. The other two Black gay mebers of the Georgia legislature are Rashad Taylor and Simone Bell. Waites won a special election to the Georgia General Assembly on February 7th.

Some more information about Ms. Waites is provided by the Georgia Voice:

Waites is the fourth openly gay member of the Georgia General Assembly. State Rep. Karla Drenner (D-Avondale Estates) made history as Georgia’s first openly gay state lawmaker. She was followed by Rep. Simone Bell (D-Atlanta), who also ran for office as an open lesbian. State Rep. Rashad Taylor (D-Atlanta) was already in the state legislature when he came out as gay last year. 

Waites is a contract employee with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. She is also a business owner who owns four houses and rents to low-income families. She holds a degree in political science from Georgia Perimeter College and was a track star at Lakewood High School.

Congratulations to Keisha Waites! She joins a growing list of openly gay, African-American politicians who are making a name for themselves.

GODLESS WEDNESDAY: Black Atheist Public Awareness Campaign

This is great news! African Americans for Humanism has announced a new publicity campaign to raise awareness about the presence of religious skepticism in the Black community. It is not as rare as one might think, a point a recent New York Times article raised that I promoted here on Godless Wednesday a few months ago.

Friendly Atheist alerted me to the ads and supports the campaign, as do I. Apparently they will be running in various major metropolitan areas like Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Dallas. Each ad shows a prominent historical African American (it is Black History Month after all!) along with a local Black freethinker.

What do you think?

WATCH: TV Ad For Meryl Streep's The Iron Lady

Harvey Weinstein is pushing hard to help Meryl Streep to finally win her 3rd Oscar for her stunning performance in The Iron Lady. Watch the television ad which ostensibly is promoting the movie but is also pushing Streep towards her much deserved win. However, Viola Davis from The Help is the sentimental (*cough* white guilt *cough*) favorite and won the Screen Actors Guild award which is a good sign she has a big following among the actors, which is the largest branch of the Academy. If Davis were to win she would be only the second black woman in 84 years to win for Lead Actress (Halle Berry for Monster's Ball). In fact the number of Black people who have won Oscars in my lifetime can basically be counted on one hand  two hands (Denzel Washington (twice!), Jennifer Hudson, Halle Berry, Whoopi Goldberg, Jamie Foxx, Forrest Whitaker, Morgan Freeman and Monique).

What do YOU think is going to happen at the Oscars on Sunday February 26th?

Celebrity Friday: Freeman Hrabowski, University President

For today's Celebrity Friday for the first Friday in Black History Month our subject is Freeman Hrabowski, III, the President of the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Hrabowski, 61, is one of the great role models for African Americans  in the Academy.

Here is just an excerpt of his official biography:

Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, has served as President of UMBC (The University of Maryland, Baltimore County) since 1992. His research and publications focus on science and math education, with special emphasis on minority participation and performance. He chaired the National Academies committee that recently produced the report, “Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America’s Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads.”

In 2008, he was named one of America’s Best Leaders by U.S. News & World Report, which in 2009, 2010, and 2011 ranked UMBC the #1 “Up and Coming” university in the nation. In 2011, U.S. News also ranked UMBC 4th nationally for “Best Undergraduate Teaching” – tied with Yale and immediately before Brown and Stanford. In 2009, TIME magazine named him one of America’s 10 Best College Presidents. In 2011, he received both the TIAA-CREF Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for Leadership Excellence and theCarnegie Corporation of New York’s Academic Leadership Award, recognized by many as the nation’s highest awards among higher education leaders.  Also in 2011, he was named one of seven Top American Leaders by The Washington Postand the Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership.

[...]

Born in 1950 in Birmingham, Alabama, Hrabowski graduated at 19 from Hampton Institute with highest honors in mathematics. At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he received his M.A. (mathematics) and four years later his Ph.D. (higher education administration/statistics) at age 24.

Ph.D. in Mathematics and a University President for more than 20 years!

Celebrity Friday (bonus): Michael K. Williams Endorses Marriage equality

We have a BONUS Celebrity Friday today. Michael K. Williams is known for his amazing role as the openly gay Omar on the seminal television show The Wire. Today he is making news by joining HRC's Americans for Marriage Equality.

Happy MLK Day!

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!

Celebrity Friday: Blue Ivy Carter Born, Charts 1 Week Later

Beyonce and Jay-Z are the proud parents of Blue Ivy Carter,
who was born January 7, 2012

The world has been agog (and aghast) about the birth of Blue Ivy Carter, the newborn daughter of pop superstars Beyonce and Sean "Jay-Z" Carter in Brooklyn on January 7th, 2012.

Today comes word that Blue Ivy Carter is breaking a record as the youngest individual to appear on the Billboard music charts.

The newborn daughter of rapper Jay-Z and singer Beyonce, whose cries were sampled in her proud papa's newly-released single "Glory," became the youngest person to ever appear on the Billboard charts.

She is credited as a "collaborator" on the single, which has as its official title "Glory, Featuring B.I.C." (short for Blue Ivy Carter).

The song debuted at No. 74 on the charts.

Some of you may think that surely Stevie Wonder's brilliant song "Isn't She Lovely"  from his masterpiece Songs in the Key of Lifewhich features the cries of his newborn daughter Aisha must be in the running for the record of youngest charting artist but apparently it wasn't released as a single until almost two years after it was recorded.

Celebrity Friday: Herb Wesson Becomes LA City Council Prez

The Los Angeles City Council made history recently by electing Herb Wesson its first African-American President. This is the second most important position in the government of our country's second largest city. Interestingly, Los Angeles has previously had an African-American mayor (Tom Bradley), but in a city which is now only around 10% Black with 3 Black members in a City Council of 15 people, Wesson's election is historic.

Wesson had previously served as Speaker of the California Assembly, spot on his resume he shares with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Bizarrely, even though the selection of Wesson to replace outgoing City Council President Eric Garcetti was technically unanimous, the two other Black members of the Council, Jan Perry and Bernard Parks, were not present.

Wesson's election was necessary because Garcetti and Perry have already announced they are running for the open Mayoral seat which must be vacated by Villaraigosa in Spring 2013.

The Los Angeles Times reports:

Los Angeles City Councilman Herb Wesson made municipal history Wednesday [November 16], with his colleagues agreeing unanimously to make him the council's first African American president. 

That vote may appear in the history books with an asterisk. Wesson's two black colleagues, both of whom have had strained relations with him in recent weeks, did not show up — providing the only no-shows during the vote. 

Councilman Bernard C. Parks, who for days refused to say whether he would back Wesson, called in sick Wednesday morning. Councilwoman Jan Perry received permission for an excused absence. But when called by The Times, she would not say where she needed to be during the council meeting.

Congratulations to Council President Wesson!

Godless Wednesday: NYT Covers Black Irreligiosity

Praise Allah! No less an important media outlet than the New York Times has recognized that African American Atheists exist! SentientMeat brought this article to my attention and suggested it would be a good subject for a Godless Wednesday post. He reads more things than Cactus and Succulent websites after all.

In a piece published this week titled "The Unbelievers" the Paper of Record examines the (ir)religiosity of Black people in this country:

RONNELLE ADAMS came out to his mother twice, first about his homosexuality, then about his atheism.

“My mother is very devout,” said Mr. Adams, 30, a Washington resident who has published an atheist children’s book, “Aching and Praying,” but who in high school considered becoming a Baptist preacher. “She started telling me her issues with homosexuality, which were, of course, Biblical,” he said. “ ‘I just don’t care what the Bible says about that,’ I told her, and she asked why. ‘I don’t believe that stuff anymore.’ It got silent. She was distraught. She told me she was more bothered by that than the revelation I was gay.”

[...]

African-Americans are remarkably religious even for a country known for its faithfulness, as the United States is. According to the Pew Forum 2008 United States Religious Landscape Survey, 88 percent of African-Americans believe in God with absolute certainty, compared with 71 percent of the total population, with more than half attending religious services at least once a week.

[...]

According to Pew, the vast majority of atheists and agnostics are white, including the authors Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens.

Seeking a public intellectual of their own, some black atheists have claimed the astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, interpreting his arguments against teaching intelligent design in the classroom to be an endorsement of atheism. But Dr. deGrasse Tyson is loath to be associated with any part of the movement. When contacted last week by e-mail, he noted a Twitter exchange he had in August, in which he told a follower, “Am I an Atheist, you ask? Labels are mentally lazy ways by which people assert they know you without knowing you.”

Methinks Dr. Tyson doth protest too much, don't you? Anyway, it's cool that there are blogs like Godless and Black and Words of Wrath as well as organizations like African Americans for Humanism and facebook pages like Black Atheists of America. Hopefully MadProfessah's Godless Wednesday will join this list of Black Atheist resources.

3 of 13 U.S. Chess Masters Under 14 Are Black!

Richard Perry/The New York Times

This is a great story! The NewYork Times covers the amazing occurrence of three African-American chess masters who also happen to be teenagers! As some readers may know, MadProfessah is a Senior Master and FIDE Master. I became a National Master at age 16. There are very few grandmasters of African descent, and only one African American grandmaster, Maurice Ashley, who is quoted in the article, entitled "Masters of the Game and Leaders by Example":

Fewer than 2 percent of the 77,000 members of the United States Chess Federation are masters — and just 13 of them are under the age of 14.  

 Among that select group of prodigies are three black players from the New York City area — Justus Williams, Joshua Colas and James Black Jr. — who each became masters before their 13th birthdays. 

 “Masters don’t happen every day, and African-American masters who are 12 never happen,” said Maurice Ashley, 45, the only African-American to earn the top title of grandmaster. “To have three young players do what they have done is something of an amazing curiosity. You normally wouldn’t get something like that in any city of any race.” 

[...] 

In September last year, Justus, who is now 13 and lives in the Bronx, was the first of the three boys to get to 2,200, becoming the youngest black player to obtain the master rank. Joshua, 13, of White Plains, was a few months younger than Justus when he became a master last December. James, 12, of Brooklyn, became a master in July.

Maurice Ashley is also quoted as saying "Chess just isn't that big in the African-American community." What do YOU think, Gentle Readers? Why isn't chess a bigger sport in the African-American community? Isn't that what people used to (and still) say about tennis?

It would be great if one or more of these players became  a grandmaster but it is really difficult to make a living at being a professional chess player. I know several grandmasters who stopped playing chess and went into other fields where their innate talent for problem-solving and spatial visualization and powers of concentration made them formidable forces in other fields.

Regardless, it is very cool to see the words "prodigy" and "African-American" in the same New York Times article!

WATCH: Cory Booker Supports Marriage Equality

US OPEN 2011: Playing Tennis While Black? #PTWB

The first video above shows the soon-to-be notorious incident which happened at 2-6, 30-40 with Serena Williams serving to Samantha Stosur during the 2011 U.S. Open Women's Final (won by Stosur) for which Serena was assessed a point penalty for deliberate hindrance for shouting "come on" before the point was over. Darren Cahill first posted on Twitter a link to this video of an identical "hindrance" incident with Serena playing Svetlana Kuznetsova two years ago, bizarrely with the exact same referee Eva Asderaki officiating last night. Then it had no more than 600 views. Now it's up to 13,000 and rising LOL. The comments on the second video claim that because Doha 2009 and US OPEN 2011 were played under WTA and ITF rules, respectively, the umpire was correct in awarding a point (and thus a game) penalty to Serena Williams.

Let's go to the text shall we?

The ITF rules on "hindrance" state (Rule 26):

"If a player is hindered in playing the point by a deliberate act of the opponent(s), the player shall win the point. However, the point shall be replayed if a player is hindered in playing the point by either an unintentional act of the opponent(s), or something outside the player’s own control (not including a permanent fixture).”

The WTA rules (pdf) on "hindrance" state:

If a player hinders her opponent, it can be ruled as either involuntary or deliberate. 

1. Involuntary Hindrance 

A let should be called the first time a player has created an involuntaryhindrance (e.g., ball falling out of pocket, hat falling off, etc.), and the player should be told that any such hindrance thereafter will be ruled deliberate. 

2. Deliberate Hindrance 

Any hindrance caused by a player that is ruled deliberate will result inthe loss of a point.

My issue is with the interpretation of the rule. In what way did Serena's scream hinder Stosur in returning the ball? How do Azarenka's and Sharapova's shrieks not hinder the player on the other side of the net? If grunting is not involuntary hindrance than neither should screaming "come on!" If one takes the position that screaming out a word right before one's opponent is going to hit the ball is involuntary hindrance then a let should be played. It was very clear that Serena had hit a winner and was screaming out "come on!" as almost all tennis players do at that point. No human in that position was going to get that ball back in the court. Stosur happened to get her racquet on the ball before it bounced twice but no way was she going to get the ball back into play. If it had been some other event which had interrupted play the umpire should rule that Stosur had no play on the ball and give the point to Serena. But umpires often do interpret the rule (wrongly, in my view) that if the player gets a racquet on the ball (or is even in the vicinity of the ball when the incident happens) then the entire point needs to be replayed.


So the ruling by the umpire was the Serena deliberately hindered Stosur by screaming "come on." This is absolute bovine excrement and must be reported as such. Why is it deliberate hindrance to scream out "come on!" before an opponent hits an unreturnable ball? If the ball WAS returnable, then I think one could rule it was a deliberate hindrance. Because, the player was deliberately hindered from returning it into play. But the ball was not playable so regardless of what Serena said or did that ball was not coming back into play. The bigger question is, why did the same umpire rule differently at the US Open than two years ago at the Doha 2009 tournament, under essentially the same rules in an identical situation? That umpire, Eva Asderaki like the notorious Marina Alves, should never be allowed to referee a Serena Williams match again.


But the bigger issue is with the ability of umpires and officials to make calls which videotape allows the fans and observers to know are incorrect. That is what used to happen with line call and now (thanks to the 2004 U.S. Open quarterfinals match with Jennifer Capriati and Serena Williams when repeated, obvious line calls were made against Serena by Referee Marina Alves) we have electronic line calling. And tennis is much better for it. Ask Maria Kirilenko!

What drives us observant followers, fans and players of the game insane is that there are a LOT of these subjective interpretations of the rules in the game of tennis and more often than not they seemed to be interpreted arbitrarily (or to the detriment of Serena at the U.S. Open). My point is that there should be an increased attempt to REDUCE subjectivity in tennis and have all umpire calls appealable by going to an objective source such as videotape (where available) and then a ruling by the tournament referee using the objective source.

Incidents such as "not up," "foot faults," "non-racquet contact with the ball" are all examples of situations which could be resolved by going to the videotape. You can also find multiple examples where umpires have made questionable (and incorrect) rulings against Serena Williams, Venus Williams and James Blake where the video shows pretty clear that the umpire was in error. What do these players all have in common? Hmmmmm.

There are video cameras in the cars of police officers all around the country to prevent incidents of what is known as "Driving While Black or Brown)." 

All players need the ability to review video of incidents on the tennis court to substantiate umpire rulings!

Until that time, anyone playing in an official match, especially if they have "dark" skin may be subject to an incident of "Playing Tennis While Black"!

Take A Virtual Tour Of New MLK Memorial

Today there's a new National Monument in Washington, D.C., and it celebrates the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. The official dedication will be Sunday, August 28th, the 48th anniversary of King's "I Have A Dream" speech, attended by our nation's first President of African descent, Barack Obama.

You can take a virtual tour of the monument online.

Hat/tip to Bill in Portland at DailyKos.