2006 will shape up to be an exciting year for African American candidates. There are two African Americans, one democrat and one republican running in Maryland. Republicans especially are playing some peculiar political games. Check out the Michigan race where they drafted a candidate to run in the primary against Keith Butler. These will be hot races that are likely to change America forever.

United States Senate

Harold Ford, Jr. (Democrat) – Tennessee
http://forwardwithford.blogspot.com/2006/07/

Keith Butler (Republican) – Michigan
http://www.butlerforsenate.com/

Kwesi Mfume (Democrat) – Maryland
http://www.mfumeforsenate.com/index.php

Michael Steele (Republican) – Maryland
http://www.steeleformaryland.com/

Govenors Races

Kenneth Blackwell (Republican) - Ohio
http://www.kenblackwell.com/

Lynn Swann (Republican) - Pennsylvania
http://www.swannforgovernor.com/

1. Gardner Taylor - Emeritus, Concorde Baptist, Brooklyn, NY
2. Noel Jones - City of Refuge, Gardena, California
3. Gilbert Patterson - Temple of Deliverance, Memphis, Tennessee
4. H. Beecher Hicks - Metropolitan Baptist, Washington, D.C.
5. T.D. Jakes - Potters House, Dallas, Texas
6. Walter Scott Thomas - New Psalmist Church, Baltimore, MD
7. Jeffrey Johnson - Eastern Star Baptist, Indianapolis, IN
8. Charles Booth - Mt. Olivet Baptist, Columbus, OH
9. William Houston Curtis - Mt. Ararat Baptist, Pittsburgh, PA
10. Charles Adams - Hartford Memorial Baptist, Detroit, MI
11. Calvin Butts - Abyssinian Baptist, Harlem, NY
12. Frederick Douglass Haynes - Friendship West Baptist, Dallas, TX
13. Vashti McKenzie - Payne Memorial AME, Baltimore, MD
14. Floyd Flake - Allen AME, Queens, NY
15. James Woodson - St. James Church, Greensboro, NC
16. Paul Morton - Greater St. Stephen's, New Orleans, LA
17. Jamaal Bryant - Empowerment Temple AME, Baltimore, MD
18. Jackie McCullough - The Gathering at Beth Rapha, Pomona, NY
19. Eddie Long - New Birth Baptist, Lithonia, GA
20. Carolyn Showell, Evangelist, MD

1. Manning Marable - Columbia
2. Henry Louis Gates - Harvard
3. Cornell West - Princeton
4. Bell Hooks - Berea College
5. Mary Francis Berry - Penn
6. Charles Ogletree - Harvard
7. Michael Eric Dyson - Penn
8. Ben Carson - Johns Hopkins
9. Na'im Akbar - Florida State
10. William Julius Wilson - Harvard

1. My mother Carrie - she is the most loving and supportive mom anyone could ever have. She constantly challenges me to think beyong my sight.

2. Sojourner Truth - a woman who was willing to sacrifice her life for the freedom of her people. She is the epitome of a stong sister.

3. Coretta Scott King - she exhibited poise in the face of extreme hardship and humiliation. She symbolized the goodness and strength that all persons, both men and women should have within them.

4. Rev. Dr. Vashti McKenzi - first woman bishop in the AME church. One of the most dynamic and uncompromising preachers that I have ever heard. Its not an easy feat to be a woman bishop in the AME church.

5. Dr. Mary Ann Williams - the woman who recruited me in North Carolina to come to Ohio State University. She change my life with one conversation.

6. Dr. Janice Kennedy Sloan - easily one the brightest, politically savvy minds to ever cross my path. She grabbed me as a young unpolished educator and molded me into real professional able to withstand the pitfalls of higher education administration.

7. Dr. Johnetta Cole - the greatest female (probably male too) educator of contemporary times. She understands education and its role in liberation of the mind, body, and soul.

8. Ida B. Wells Barnett - daughter of a slave and slave master who raised 5 kids when both parents died. She became an opponent of lynching and an outspoken critic of the treatment of African Americans. Was instrumental in the founding of the NAACP but was dismissed from the organization because her views were too radical. Go figure!

9. Sylvia Pope - my sister, for her undying love for her son Jon, who is autistic. She has dedicated her life to helping him cope with society. She is an unbelievable woman.

10. Halle Berry - I admire her a lot. Don't all brothers. Hey, I am human!

Tis the eve of the dawning of love
Eagerly I await your arrival
Thrice have you eluded me
How awful has been my fortune in days gone by
Alas, atonement approaches on the morrow

Shall you change the monotony that is my lot
Or will you embrace me and hold fast to my heart
Am I not deserving so of Cupid's favor
How I long to know that which transcends my vision
Let it erode the bitterness of my own making

Embed within my mind thoughts of your sweetness
For I shall savor you with unmatched adoration
I shall open myself to you as if it be my genesis
I will say to all, not in my words or with my pen
But through the very essence of my enlightenment
That because of you, I am now and forever more
Introduced and happily wedded to true love