Cover Story :
BUILDING THE DREAM
Martin Luther Memorial moves closer to construction
By Jean Nash Wells

The idea to build a national memorial to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the Mall in Washington, DC was conceived by members of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, the nation’s oldest black college fraternity. During breakfast one morning in 1984 George Sealey, Alfred Bailey, Oscar Little, Eddie Madison, and John Harvey decided that Dr. King, who had been a member of that fraternity, should be so honored.

Forty Years After the Poor People’s Campaign
By Emma Jordan-Simpson

It has been 40 years since Marian Wright, now Marian Wright Edelman, President and Founder of the Children’s Defense Fund, suggested to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King that the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) stage a poor people’s march in Washington, DC. At its inception in 1967, 1 in 7 Americans lived in poverty.

Politics, Pulpit and Purpose
An exclusive interview with Rev. Leah Daughtry
By Kerimera Sseruwamikisa

Leah Daughtry, CEO of the National Democratic Convention Committee, briskly strides into her office at Democratic National Committee headquarters wearing an elegant black and white outfit, looking every bit like the “great administrator and manager” she proclaimed herself to be during the course of our interview.

The Next Step: Civil Responsibility
By Rev. Elaine M. Flake, D.Min.,

The Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court decision ushered in a season that opened the door for African-Americans to have access to an integrated, quality educational experience that was not limited by the barriers that were operative during the era of segregation. Although the law created the means for access to excellent education, there was phenomenal resistance to allowing African Americans into schools that were predominately white.

Ask Dr. Bonaparte

A dear African American friend of mine was recently diagnosed with stage 4 cervical cancer. What is her prognosis and could this have been picked up earlier?

Gospel Train
By Patricia Baldwin

It is imperative that we, as believers, continue to be uncompromising regarding the word of God in its truth and its purest form, which is holy and righteous. It is also imperative that when we deliver the gospel, we stand flatfooted on exactly what The Lord said, because it is from our Father in Heaven and every promise and purpose must live through us. With that said, are we—the Kingdom Builders, the

My View
By Rev. Theresa Nance

Honoring Dr. King ...What can we say about Dr.Martin Luther King Jr. that hasn't already been said? His verbal eloquence has been universally discussed by various and sundry wordsmiths everywhere.

From the Heart
By Rosemary Sinclair

God’s grace has brought me full circle. I see my glass as half full, never half empty as I face my 67 th birthday with a sense of wonder, joy and anticipation similar to that of my youth.

God, by His love, mercy and grace has blessed us to come through the year 2007 and embark upon another year. It is important that we give God thanks and praise for keeping us. When we look back on the year 2007 we have to say, "through many dangerous, toils and snares we have already come." As our mothers and fathers would say, "there are hundreds and thousands who have been better by nature than we've been by practice, but if you call their names they would fail to answer.

Gospel Train

Something happened to me that I want to share with you. At first I was telling it to my friends and family via emails, and since you fit into that category as well, I will share it with you, too.

From the publisher’s desk… FREE AT LAST!
By Adrian A. Council

On January 1, 1863 The Emancipation Proclamation was signed by President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War abolishing slavery in the Confederate states. January 1st is Freedom Day for us black people. New Year’s Day is “Emancipation/Freedom Day.” Interestingly, nine out of 10 people that I polled have no idea of the date that we became African Americans.

The Last Word
By Jean Nash Wells

Laurence Jones served as Martin Luther King’s personal attorney throughout most of the Civil Rights Movement. In fact, when King was imprisoned in Alabama, Jones smuggled paper and pencils into the jail for King to write down his thoughts and subsequently smuggled King’s writings out of the jail in his pants as he recounts in What would Martin Say? Among them was the famous, Letter from a Birmingham Jail.