I hope that this week’s music has helped soothe your soul.
Today, we bring you Albertina Walker.
Early years
Walker was born in Chicago, Illinois,[2] to Ruben and Camille Coleman Walker. Her mother was born in Houston County, Georgia, and her father in Bibb County, Georgia. They moved to Chicago between 1917-1920 where they lived out their lives. Albertina had four siblings born in Bibb County and four born in Chicago. Albertina began singing in the youth choir at the West Point Baptist Church at an early age, and joined several Gospel groups thereafter, including Pete Williams Singers, The Willie Webb Singers and the Robert Anderson Singers.[3] Albertina was greatly influenced by Mahalia Jackson, her friend and confidante, whom Jackson took on the road when Albertina was just a teenager. “Mahalia used to kid me. She’d say, ‘Girl, you need to go sing by yourself,'” recalled Walker in a 2010 Washington Post interview. Albertina Walker did just that. In 1951, she formed the group called The Caravans. She was popularly referred to as the “Queen of Gospel Music”, initially by such notables as the late Reverend James Cleveland and Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr, for her outstanding achievements within the genre after the death of Mahalia Jackson in 1972.[4]
In the early 1950s Walker founded her own Gospel music group The Caravans, enlisting fellow singers from The Robert Anderson Singers (Ora Lee Hopkins, Elyse Yancey and Nellie Grace Daniels). The Caravans’ membership has included: James Cleveland, Bessie Griffin, Shirley Caesar, Dorothy Norwood, Inez Andrews, Loleatta Holloway, John McNeil, Cassietta George, and Delores Washington. Her discovery of these artists resulted in the nickname “Star Maker”. Walker retired The Caravans in the late 1960s, performing as a solo artist.
In the mid-1970s, Walker signed with Savoy Records then Benson Records, Word Records, A&M Records, and other record companies, recording a series of solo projects, many of them with big church choirs including The Evangelical Choir, The Cathedral of Love Choir, The Metro Mass choir, and her own church choir, The West Point Choir. Albertina recorded her first solo project Put a Little Love in Your Heart in 1975. She also recorded several projects together with Reverend James Cleveland. To date, she has recorded over 60 albums, including gold selling hits “Please Be Patient With Me”, “I Can Go to God in Prayer”, “The Best Is Yet to Come”, “Impossible Dream”, and “Joy Will Come”. Walker sang for United States presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, and South Africa’s president, Nelson Mandela.
In 1995, Walker joined Thelma Houston, CeCe Peniston, Phoebe Snow and Lois Walden to record a gospel album in common, Good News in Hard Times, as the quintet called The Sisters of Glory.
Walker recorded a reunion album with her group The Caravans entitled Paved the Way, which was released by Malaco Records on September 5, 2006. Performers included Walker, Dorothy Norwood, Inez Andrews,Robert Estevis and Delores Washington. The album was dubbed by Billboard magazine as one of the most memorable releases of 2006[5] and entered the Billboard charts in the top ten and remained in the top forty for sixteen weeks. Paved the Way was nominated for a Grammy, Dove, Soul Train Music Award and two Stellar Awards.
Awards
Albertina earned many awards and honors over her six decades of music ministry. Among them, a 1995 Grammy Award for the Best Traditional Gospel Album (Songs of The Church); 10 Grammy Award nominations; 5 Gold Records; 3 Stellar Awards; 3 Dove Awards; several Gospel Music Workshop of America Excellence Awards; an induction into the 2001 Gospel Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee. In 2005, the Grammys honored her contributions to the Gospel music industry. R.E.A.- Robert Estevis Award for the album, “The Caravans, Paved The Way” She was also the recipient of a National Heritage Fellowship. President George Bush honored Albertina Walker for her contribution to Gospel music May 31, 2002. 29, 1929 – October 8, 2010)[1] was an American gospel singer, song writer, actress, and humanitarian. She was popularly referred to as the Queen of Gospel Music.
Hey Now!
Obama Administration Launches “My Brothers Keeper” Initiative For Young Men of Color
http://www.blackandmarriedwithkids.com/2014/02/obama-administration-launches-my-brothers-keeper-initiative-for-young-men-of-color/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=obama-administration-launches-my-brothers-keeper-initiative-for-young-men-of-color
Last Thursday, the Obama administration officially announced the launch of a new initiative designed to help young men of color – a group disproportionately affected by imprisonment and poverty – reach their true potential.
Through the “My Brother’s Keeper” initiative companies and foundations will come together to offer support to this particular population. According to the Washington Post, a White House official says that this initiative will set out to “make sure that every young man of color who is willing to work hard and lift himself up has an opportunity to get ahead and reach his full potential.”
During President Obama’s State of the Union address last month, he promised that he would launch a program focused on young men of color, but he did not reveal any details at the time. According to reports, President Obama has been preparing to launch the “My Brother’s Keeper” initiative since last summer.
Dallas 8-Year-Old Shot by White Neighbor Struggles to Recover
He is getting physically stronger, but suffers the emotional consequences of the shooting.
No 8-year-old should live in fear for his life, with nightmares that keep him awake all night. But that is a daily occurrence for Donald Maiden Jr., known as D.J., who was playing tag outside his Dallas apartment complex when he was shot in the face by a neighbor last September.
There was seemingly no reason for the attack by 46-year-old Brian Cloninger, a white man, who told police “he wanted to” when asked why he fired on the black child.
The little boy, who spent weeks in the hospital hooked up to machines and breathing tubes, is now, thankfully, physically improved. After the shooting, he had a metal plate and wire mesh to hold his damaged jaw together.
“We’re doing much better,” his mother, Monique Locklin, told The Root. “A lot better. He’s doing well.”
http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2014/02/dallas_boy_shot_by_neighbor_struggles_to_recover.html?wpisrc=topstories
http://youtu.be/-YCeIgt7hMs
The Cultish Appeal Of Michelle Obama
by Linton Weeks
February 19, 201411:11 AM
There are people who do not like Michelle Obama.
This is not a story for, or about, them. This is a story for, and about, people who like the first lady. And perhaps some of the reasons they like her.
In a recent poll by Pew Research Center, she is viewed favorably by 68 percent of all Americans. And more favorably than her husband, President Barack Obama. (The poll points out that conservative Republicans are not totally enamored of her, but even they like her better than her husband.)
Another just-released survey shows that the top-rated first ladies since World War II — among some 242 historians — are Jackie Kennedy and Michelle Obama. (Hillary Clinton was right behind Michelle Obama.) Reuters reports that “Current first lady Michelle Obama scored particularly high in the categories of ‘being her own woman’ and ‘value to the president.’ ”
When it comes to public opinion polls, observes USA Today, “the most consistent aspect of the Obama administration is first lady Michelle Obama.” And there are many Americans who just flat-out adore her.
Robin Givhan, a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer who covered the first lady for The Washington Post in 2009-2010, observes: “Michelle Obama is a cult figure.”
Yes, icon.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/theprotojournalist/2014/02/19/278769529/the-cultish-appeal-of-michelle-obama?sc=tw&cc=share
The white people in my family says go pound sand..
Racist preacher: TN preacher’s sermon against interracial marriage goes viral
http://www.examiner.com/article/racist-preacher-tn-preacher-s-sermon-against-interracial-marriage-goes-viral?cid=sm-facebook-022014-9.00am-sermonagainstinterraialmarriage
Brother Donny Reagan of Johnson City’s Happy Valley Church of Jesus Christ in Tennessee has had one of his sermons go viral, and in the minds of many, it isn’t for a good reason. Knoxnews.com reported on Feb. 19, 2014, that one of Reagan’s sermons is getting a lot of attention and it is all due to his preaching against interracial relationships and biracial babies.
“US billionaire aims to balance Koch and co”
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/latest/us-billionaire-aims-to-balance-koch-and-co/story-e6frg90f-1226831756508
EWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
Classic- MY PARTY IS FULL OF RACISTS
1 WEEK AND COUNTING…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZi0H3RVvn8
The Winter finale left fans undoubtedly unsettled: Sally murdered her husband, Daniel, after seeing Cyrus’s photo-evidence of his affair with James; Mellie jumps for joy over Daniel’s death; Rowen, Olivia’s dad, was booted from the being the head of the top secret assassination squad, B613; Olivia’s mom, Maya/Marie, escaped capture in Hong Kong after Olivia realized Maya/Marie was actually the terrorist Rowen said she was; Huck tortured Quinn for a little bit; Quinn is back and fourth about becoming Bonnie and Clyde with Charlie; Abby continues to manipulate David into getting her top-secret information; and Harrison’s past seems to be catching up to him.
http://www.mstarz.com/articles/26422/20140219/scandal-returns-feb-27.htm
There you go!
We’ve got a crappy, society where Whites stereotype Blacks as criminals. Remember Henry Louis Gates trying to get into his own house?
<b.California Has Already Topped Its Obamacare Enrollment Goals
TPM- Dylan Scott – February 20, 2014, 9:55 AM EST
California has signed up more than 825,000 people in Obamacare coverage, the state reported Wednesday, topping its total enrollment goals with six weeks to go in the open enrollment period.
About 728,000 people had enrolled by the end of January, according to the state's Obamacare marketplace, and more than 100,000 additional people have signed up in the first two weeks of February.
According to a September presentation, California was expecting a little less than 700,000 enrollments by March 31.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/california-obamacare-enrollment-target
ok, this is CRAZY.
Epic #SochiFail: Wolf in my hall
WOLF?
WOLF?
LMBAO!
http://youtu.be/3qZA-xOeQmE
Kate Hansen ✔ @k8ertotz Follow
Wolf in my hall?!? #SochiProblems #SochiFail http://youtu.be/3qZA-xOeQmE
11:41 PM – 19 Feb 2014
WTF Just WTF? LOL
MERCY!
LMBAO A fuckin wolf in living quarters; what kind of chicanery is this?
How Obama secretly became the anti-poverty president
By Zachary Goldfarb
February 18 at 9:05 am
On the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington in August, President Obama took the stage of the Lincoln Memorial and gave highly anticipated remarks honoring the life of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. But on the 50th anniversary of the War on Poverty last month, he released a three-paragraph statement to the White House e-mail list.
The understated response was just one example of how Obama has often been shy about vocally addressing poverty. If you ask people in the White House about the president’s anti-poverty policies, they’ll describe them but then rush to emphasize: He’s focused on the middle class and those trying to get into it. And Obama’s own statements about the poor sometimes come with value statements attached. He’s said he wants to create “more chances for folks to earn their way into the middle class as long as they’re willing to work for it.”
As long as they’re willing to work for it. It’s striking language for a president who has criticized the opposition for suggesting that the poor should just work harder if they want to lift themselves out of poverty. When he talks about the issue, he often shows a bit of insecurity, a worry that people will think he’s a tax-and-spend liberal who gives handouts to the poor. He’s far more comfortable talking about the middle class, economic growth and opportunity.
The irony is that even as he has shied away from talking about poverty, a relentless focus on helping the poor is perhaps the most unifying principle behind his approach to the economy. From the beginning of his first term to his second-term priorities, Obama has advocated policies whose disproportionate beneficiaries are people in poverty or near it. Consider the two biggest policies of his first term.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/02/18/how-obama-secretly-became-the-anti-poverty-president-2/
Forest Grove teen stops violent assault
KGW Staff
Posted on February 18, 2014 at 11:59 PM
PORTLAND — Roshawn Lenkau loves those video games where he can pretend to be a police officer. He has been fascinated with law enforcement since he was a young kid. He even enrolled in an explorer program with the L.A. County Sheriff’s Office before moving to Portland.
All that training helped him possibly save a life Monday.
“What I learned from other sergeants and officers and stuff, is that they’re always telling me, ‘Nothing can turn into something at any time,” said Lenkau.
Any time came Monday afternoon. The 15 year old was near Southwest 5th Avenue and Stark Street when he noticed a homeless man brutally attacking another homeless man.
“After the first five seconds, I’m thinking, ‘I can’t hope and pray for someone to break up the fight and save this guy.’ I’m going to step in and do something,” he recalled.
http://www.kgw.com/news/Forest-Grove-teen-credited-with-stopping-violent-assault-246097921.html
State Investigator Loses Job Over Lynching Story
Posted: Feb 18, 2014 5:27 PM CST Updated: Feb 19, 2014 5:17 AM CST
by Ben Hall
Investigative Reporter
ALGOOD, Tenn. — A veteran investigator with the Tennessee Department of Health was forced to resign or face termination last month for his conduct during a racially charged case.
William Sewell was an emergency medical service investigator, assigned to the Upper Cumberland Region, who had been with the state more than 40 years.
Last summer, Sewell began investigating a case involving the Algood Fire Department in Putnam County.
In an interview with the man who filed the complaint, Shun Mullins, Sewell began telling a graphic story about a black man who was lynched near Baxter, Tennessee, many years ago.
The state claimed Sewell’s conduct in that interview could be perceived as a “form of intimidation” toward Mullins.
“If he was doing that to me, how many other people has he done that to?” Mullins asked.
Mullins was not alone in the meeting. Sheryl Allen with the NAACP executive board in Nashville and an acquaintance, Judy Mainord, were both in the room as William Sewell spoke.
“His very first question was, ‘Mr. Mullins have you ever been to the penitentiary?” Mullins remembered.
Sheryl Allen with the NAACP said, “When he asked that question, Mr Mullins said ‘no’ and he (Sewell) said ‘OK, my source is wrong.'”
“That was more than insulting to me,” Mullins said.
It was also just the beginning of the meeting.
http://www.newschannel5.com/story/24757785/state-investigator-loses-job-over-lynching-story
We got it covered and tweeted, Rikyrah. Thanks!
NJ WRESTLERS’ LYNCHING PHOTO DRAWS SCRUTINY
Feb. 19, 2014 2:16 PM EST
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — School sports officials asked the state’s civil rights agency to look into a photo that shows members of a high school wrestling team apparently simulating a lynching.
The photo, which surfaced online in recent days, shows seven white teens wearing Phillipsburg High School wrestling attire posed with a black tackling dummy in a Paulsboro High School wrestling shirt and hanging from a noose. Two of the boys have the hoods on their sweatshirts fixed into points. One of the boys is holding a paddle.
Paulsboro and Phillipsburg are longtime wrestling powerhouses and rivals. Phillipsburg, in northwest New Jersey, is a community of 15,000 where about 85 percent of the population is white. Paulsboro, south of Philadelphia, has about 6,000 residents — more than one-third of them black.
According to online photos, it appears all or nearly all Phillipsburg’s wrestlers are white, while some members of the Paulsboro team are black.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/nj-wrestlers-lynching-photo-draws-scrutiny
These boys really are a product of their white-bred environments. It’s in their DNA, so naturally to them, the prank is perfectly ok.
https://twitter.com/keithboykin/status/436170256151625728/photo/1
Cowardly Ted Nugent Cancels CNN Interview After Getting Called Out By Wolf Blitzer
By: Jason Easley
Wednesday, February, 19th, 2014, 10:36 pm
Cowardly Ted Nugent can’t take the heat. After getting called out by Wolf Blitzer for calling President Obama a “subhuman mongrel,” Nugent canceled an interview on CNN 2 hours before it was supposed to air.
At a gun show, Nugent unleashed a burst of his particular brand of racist hate, “A Chicago communist raised, communist educated, communist nurtured subhuman mongrel like the Acorn community organizer gangster, Barack Hussein Obama, to weasel his way into the top office — United States of America.”
This caused CNN’s Wolf Blitzer to go off, and let viewers know the roots of Nugent’s deplorable slur, “That’s what the Nazis called Jews to justify the genocide of the Jewish community,” Blitzer said in a Feb. 18, 2014, interview. “They called them untermenschen, subhuman mongrels. If you read some of the literature that the Nazis put out there, there is a long history of that specific phrase he used involving the president of the United States.”
http://www.politicususa.com/2014/02/19/cowardly-ted-nugent-cancels-cnn-interview-called-wolf-blitzer.html
Ametia, SG2,
Please post these videos from Lawrence O last night with Jordan Davis’ parents:
Part 1:
http://on.msnbc.com/1d2vk5k
Part 2:
Davis’ mother: ‘You took my future’
http://on.msnbc.com/1eUCh8f
The full video is uo in a thread post. I watched it live last night. Jordan’s parents are full of GRACE & GOD’S TRUTH.
thank you so much
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Good Morning, Rikyrah. Thank you for supplying us with God’s soothing balm of Gospel music this week. I certainly am enjoying it to the MAX!
x1000!