Allison Samuels

For what seems like forever, I have waited for The Princess and the Frog. This is the first Disney animated film about an African-American princess, and this delightful fairy tale couldn't come at a better time, what with the two little African-American princesses who live in the White House.

Self-esteem can be just as vital as food and shelter. A continued plea for more cultural understanding in the Jolie-Pitt household.

Military families, organic gardening, and a failed Olympic bid do not a lasting legacy make.

When the House of Representatives made the unusual move to pass a "resolution of disapproval" against Joe Wilson after his outburst during the president's speech on health care, it was House Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina who led the charge.

A close family friend offers the details on the memorial arrangements

On a set in Inglewood, Calif., will Smith busts out of his trailer door and yells at the top of his lungs, "Woman, come rub my feet!" He's speaking, loudly and in jest, to his dynamo of a wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, who proceeds to dismiss him by saying, "Don't pay that fool any attention—he has no sense." She should know.

It takes four hours on an un-air-conditioned minibus called a tro-tros to get from Accra, the capital of Ghana, to the town of Elmina. The drive is lovely, especially when the road dances above the beautiful Cape Coast and when it enters Elmina's twisty streets lined with palm trees and hundreds of people trading fish like we buy hamburgers at McDonald's.

The first lady's diverse approach to diversity.

Mike Tyson is done with being a poster boy for bad behavior—but don't ask him what comes next.

In the age of Obama, some want to banish 'Huck Finn' and abolish Black History Month. Why they're wrong.

African-Americans have an especially long wish list for the new president. How we can balance our expectations against reality. And why we must be patient.

'Notorious' revisits Biggie, and rap, in their primes.

Quincy Jones—musician, producer, Oprah's BFF—has put his life (including his school report cards) into a coffee-table book: "The Complete Quincy Jones: My Journey and Passions.'' He spoke to Allison Samuels: You had a rough childhood.My dad worked as a carpenter for the black mob, called the Jones Brothers, who ran the South Side of Chicago.

We've never had a First Lady quite like Michelle Obama. How she'll change the world's image of African-American women—and the way we see ourselves.

Forget Claire Huxtable. She could be a real-life role model for black women.

Jamie Foxx—actor, singer, comedian—has his fingerprints all over Hollywood. His latest gig: Sirius Radio's "The Foxxhole." He spoke with Allison Samuels.

African-Americans thought he had no chance—then they started to believe. Now they fear defeat.

They used to be close. Kind of. Jesse and Barack's awkward past.

Chanel Iman Robinson, a 17-year-old model from Los Angeles, is celebrated enough in the industry to drop her last name, in the style of Naomi, Cindy and Tyra.

Since Martin's death, there isn't a day or two that goes by that someone doesn't ask me, what would Martin say about this or that,'' says Clarence B. Jones, lawyer and adviser to Martin Luther King Jr.

The new gospel of the post-Wright pastors

A few of my more socially progressive girlfriends have expressed surprise and dismay that, as a woman, I seem to feel no particular allegiance to Hillary Clinton and her quest to become the first female president.

Barack Obama avoids talking about the 'race issue,' but his wife doesn't. How Michelle is becoming the point person for African-American votes.

Rappers have never been accused of being politically correct, but Nas has somehow managed to cross a line. You might call the album he's releasing next month "The N Word," except that he's insisted on spelling out the slur, hardcore.

Jesse Jackson can still get a crowd going—when he can find one. He appeared at a Los Angeles restaurant this fall, primed to discuss school dropout rates and home foreclosures.

'The Great Debaters': Denzel and a sharp young cast help a standard underdog picture sit up and speak.

They bonded during a flight from Chicago to Houston, musing over their odd-sounding names that begin with "O." It was a light-hearted moment between Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama during an otherwise serious mission in 2005 to comfort victims of Hurricane Katrina. "I think she saw his giving spirit and that really touched her," says Winfrey's friend, music legend Quincy Jones. "You can't fake the funk in those horrible circumstances."There's no faking that things are a bit funky for Obama...

Regina King has been everything from a child star to a single mom—and played everything from a Raylette to a nine-year-old boy.

How two Hollywood women who faced family tragedies use their fame and contacts to help others

Hip-hop star Chamillionaire, with a new album in hand, says good rap is not about clichés about guns, girls and money—it's about telling good stories.