During the sixteenth century, Brits from Europe brought the tradition of making pumpkin pies for dessert to West Africa. The tradition was soon brought to America during slavery, where the African slaves transformed the dessert into something sweeter using yams, then sweet potatoes. Coincidentally, yams and black-eyed peas was a common food slaves were fed […]

DETROIT (AP) — A man identified by employees as a former maintenance worker opened fire inside a Detroit medical facility, sending screaming workers and visitors rushing for the doors just moments before the building erupted in flames. Crews digging through the gutted Park Medical Centers building recovered the remains of a man and woman hours […]

GOODYEAR, Ariz. (AP) — A man charged with fatally stabbing his wife and adult son in their suburban Phoenix home told investigators he carried out the killings out of a fear he had given his wife HIV from prostitutes he used to frequent and out of concern about what would become of his jobless son […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said Wednesday that Republicans face long odds in connecting with black voters and are often cast as unsympathetic to the needs of blacks and minorities — something he says the party needs to change. Paul, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, said in a speech at Howard University that […]

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — The lone survivor of a 1963 Alabama church bombing that killed four black girls said Wednesday she wants millions in compensation for her injuries and won’t accept a top congressional award proposed to honor the victims. Sarah Collins Rudolph, in an interview with The Associated Press, said she feels forgotten 50 […]

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A judge in Las Vegas says there’s enough evidence that Flavor Flav threatened his longtime girlfriend’s 17-year-old son with a butcher knife for the entertainer to stand trial on two felony charges. The clock-wearing 54-year-old former rap and reality TV star didn’t testify during an evidence hearing Wednesday, but the teen […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Jay-Z’s right-hand woman will perform at the festival the rapper has curated in Philadelphia. The festival announced Wednesday on Spotify that Beyonce will perform at the “Budweiser Made in America” music festival on Labor Day weekend. Nine Inch Nails will also headline. A wide range of acts will hit the stage […]

Kimberly Thomas of Frederick, MD is today’s “Thursday Morning Mom” winner. Dear Tom, My sister Kim is a single mom who should be the poster mom for single moms. She is a full-time employee with the federal government – which is her first and only “real” job after completing her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from […]

Last week the world learned what basketball great Magic Johnson and his wife Cookie had known for many years—that their son, Earvin Magic Johnson, Jr. was gay.  If you didn’t already respect Magic for appearing to be a stand up guy, a philanthropist and a businessman who has invested heavily in inner-cities, then perhaps he’ll […]

Stacey Dash is showing her crazy again. The actress who leans to right – as in politics – has hopped on the Republican bandwagon of throwing shade at Beyoncé and Jay-Z for their trip to Cuba. She of course thinks their recent visit is a big  deal and thinks you should too. Oh, and check […]

We all run out to get our tickets when the lottery jackpots get high. We figure we’ll take a chance and maybe our couple dollars will turn into something we always dreamed of; even if it’s only the consolation prize of a few thousand or a couple dollars for getting some of the numbers. Well […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama’s new budget offers Medicare cuts to entice Republicans into tax negotiations, while plowing ahead to cover the uninsured next year under the health care law the GOP has bitterly fought to repeal. But the biggest health consequences from any proposal in Obama’s plan could come from nearly doubling the […]