Anika Noni Rose Lands First African American Princess

Anika Noni Rose is finally coming into her own. Ms. Rose has landed the lead character role for the voice in Disney's upcoming animated flick "The Princess and the Frog".

"It's the most thrilling thing," says Rose, the Tony Award winner who you're likely to remember from her work as Lorrell in the movie Dreamgirls, which also starred Jennifer Hudson and Beyoncé. "It's been a dream of mine since I was a little itty-bitty person to be a Disney voice."

The film will also set a historic moment with it being Disney's first African-American princess.

Nice!

Barack Made History

If you didn't watch it last night... get off my blog! I'm just kidding, but seriously, if you didn't watch the finale of the DNC when Barack Obama made history as the first black man announced his acceptance as the Democratic Nominee for the next President of the United States, then you missed out.

I was glued to the television all night until it went off. I wanted to be a part of the history and I wanted to be witness to the magnitude of the whole thing. It was an electrifying experience. I guess those 84,000 people that were in attendendace were punch drunk with ambition and hope from drinking the Barack Obama kool-aid!

Several things that Barack touched on last night ring out in my mind, but the one that resonates the most is when he said:

We don't work for us, we work so that the next generation will live better!

People tend to forget what legacies we are leaving behind. If we ruin what little we have now, what will our children and grandchildren have to look forward to?

Morehouse's First Caucasian Valedictorian

In the 141 years of it's existence, Morehouse University has never had a caucasian valedictorian... up until now. Joshua Packwood, a 22 year old senior economics major is graduating on Sunday with a perfect 4.0 GPA. Joshua had the opportunity to attend Ivey League schools such as Columbia, Stanford, and even Yale, but chose to go to Morehouse; Not just because of who he was physically, but because there wanted him, and wanted him based on the work that he had done in his academic career. The man that recruited him to come to Morehouse had no clue that he was white until one day, he called Joshua during his track practice and said "Don't let the white kids walk you down!" and Joshua responded "Wait... You know I'm white right?". That had to be a funny moment I'm sure, but it confirmed to Joshua that Morehouse wasn't looking to him to be the "token white boy" but they were looking to him to be the best student possible. "That said I could come here and, ironically, be accepted for who I am", Packwood said. "I thought I made the right decision then, and I know I made the right decision now."

Who Was Mildred Loving?

I will be completely honest; I never knew who Mildred Loving was until today, but I am definitely glad that someone brought her story to light.

Mildred Loving was the woman some deemed "The Rosa Parks of Love", simply because she challenged the justice system in their efforts to stiffle her love for a white man. Mildred (Jeter) met Richard Loving when she was only 11 years old and Richard was 17. After dating for a few years, Mildred became pregnant. The two were married in 1958 when Mildred turned 18. Initially when the couple got married, Mildred had no idea that the marriage was illegal, until one day the couple was arrested and pleaded 'guilty' to "cohabiting as man and wife, against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth”. Ultimately, they were spared jail time but they had to promise to leave their home of Central Point, VA. The couple relocated to Washington, D.C. but decided that they would no longer deal with being "pushed" out of the place that they called home and decided to challenge the ruling. They wrote to Robert F. Kennedy, then Attorney General, and he in turn referred the case to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

In 1967, The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Loving and her husband Richard had the right to marry. This resounding ruling blew down laws in 17 other states that banned cross-racial marriages.

"We loved each other and got married," she told The Washington Evening Star in 1965, when the case was pending. "We are not marrying the state. The law should allow a person to marry anyone he wants." She said she never tried to be a hero. "It wasn't my doing," Loving said. "It was God's work."

Last Friday, May 2nd, at the age of 68, Mildred Loving passed away. But not without making her mark in history and many many lives. Richard Loving passed away in 1975 due to an automobile accident.