The event, which continues the celebration of the 40th Anniversary of Black Enterprise, will feature top notch entertainment as well as recognize the achievements of the Black Enterprise Titans of iconic business leadership and the BE Next generation of young business achievers.

The Pinnacle Awards honor companies who have met the various challenges facing businesses and have found ways to positively impact the communities and industries they serve. The companies are professional, capable and committed to maintaining a high quality business operation worthy of the Pinnacle Award.

Everyone seems to be doing their own college rankings these days. Forbes and Washington Monthly recently joined the likes of U.S. News and World Report in offering their assessments of the best universities in the U.S. Two ratings systems, developed by Times Higher Education and Shanghai Jiaotong University, assemble lists of the top institutions in the world.

African-American race is a distinct risk factor for developing life-threatening blood clots after receiving a drug-coated stent, according to research reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
African-American race was the strongest predictor of clotting that occurs more than 30 days after implantation, researchers said.

The poor health of African American boys and young adult males is a result of their environments and physical surroundings, according to a new report from the California Endowment.

State Senator Royce West is calling to action members of the black Greek community to emphasize the need for mentorship as he brings attention to the growing number of African American children on the waiting list of Big Brothers Big Sisters, including the number of African American boys on the list.

Saturday, Aug. 21, Senator West, a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. and a Texas Senator representing District 23 (Dallas County) is formally reaching out to local black Greek fraternities and sororities to address the crises faced by African American students and the low graduation rates of African American males in the state of Texas. Members of the black Greek community will meet with Senator West at the T. Boone Pickens Mentoring Hall of Fame in the Big Brothers Big Sisters headquarters at 450 E. John Carpenter Freeway in Irving, Texas. The event is from 8:30 a.m. until Noon.

In my last editorial I addressed the crisis of fewer numbers of minority men enrolling in or completing any kind of higher education. The consequence of this diminished presence of African-American and Hispanic men in colleges and universities is a corresponding diminished presence of minority men in business and entrepreneurship, from the mailroom to the board room. Houston Community College (HCC) is countering this trend through the Minority Male Initiative and its Men of Honor student organization. The mission of the Minority Male Initiative is to address this issue by mentoring and guiding minority male students from middle school through HCC.

Karen E. Jackson, Founder/CEO of Sisters Network Inc(SNI), the only national African American breast cancer survivorship organization in the United States is among the esteemed panelists invited to the National Medical Association (NMA) convention to discuss the recent changes to the national breast cancer guidelines and the potential impact on African American women.

Kamie Crawford, Miss Maryland Teen USA was crowned Miss Teen USA 2010 last evening at the beautiful Atlantis, Paradise Island in the Bahamas on July 24, 2010. The 17-year-old winner is from Potomac, MD. The Miss Teen USA® pageant was streamed online to a worldwide audience at www.missteenusa.com and at www.seventeen.com. Miss USA 2008, Crystle Stewart, and Seth Goldman of NBC’s “Entertainment Buzz” emceed this year’s pageant. Outgoing Miss Teen USA 2009, Stormi Henley, debuted her anticipated single “Quite Like Me” during this year’s show, marking the beauty’s first worldwide musical performance.

“Life is crazy, sometimes I hate life.
Know why? Because I was born a suspect.
All black people are born a suspect.
I came out my momma’s stomach, anything that happened within a 3 block radius, I was a suspect.”
–Chris Rock, “Born Suspect”

Film director, screenwriter, producer and distributor Oscar Micheaux, who illuminated the African-American experience through more than 40 feature films, was immortalized on a U.S. postage stamp today, taking his place as the 33rd person honored in the popular Black Heritage commemorative stamp series.

The coveted 2010 Westminster Lifetime Alumni Achievement Award was presented to Dr. Michael P. Williams, class of 1973 in a special Alumni Honors Convocation Ceremony held April 24, 2010 during Alumni Weekend in the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury on the Westminster College campus in Fulton, MO.

President Barack Obama kisses Dr. Dorothy I. Height during a meeting on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Jan. 18, 2010. President Obama met with a group of African American seniors and their grandchildren on the legacy of the civil rights movement.

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority begins it second century of sisterhood and service when 10,000 members converge upon the St. Louis Convention Center in St. Louis, Missouri from July 9-16 for its first conference in its second centennial. International President Barbara A. McKinzie will preside over the weeklong event, whose theme is: “Second Time Around.”

Houston’s first African American Congregational Church is celebrating its 106th year of service with a dedication and unveiling of the Official Texas State Historical Marker in the Prayer Garden at Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ where Rev. Myron E. Cloyd is the Senior Pastor.

The recent barrages of accusations directed at the Republican National Committee have led to RNC Chairman Michael Steele being forced into a corner on an issue he has often spoken up against. When asked in early April whether he felt he was being held to a higher standard because he is an African American.

The Diversity in Engineering Impact Award, funded by a $40,000 grant from ExxonMobil, will acknowledge universities that have developed innovative and successful retention programs targeting African American, Hispanic American and American Indian students pursuing degrees in engineering.

When President Barack Obama today signed into law legislation that will enable millions of Americans to gain access to health care insurance, he delivered on the promise he held since launching his audacious journey to the White House: Change we can believe in.

February officially became known as Black History Month because of Dr. Carter G. Woodson. He made sure the African American story was told with the establishment of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History .

February officially became known as Black History Month because of Dr. Carter G. Woodson. He made sure the African American story was told with the establishment of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (now called the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History) in 1915. He also founded the Journal of Negro History and launched Negro History Week in 1926. This later became Black History Month.