1 Higher Learning

The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, a $40 million school primarily financed by the influential talk show queen herself, opened in South Africa last month. Its 150 students, chosen from thousands of the country's poorest households, will receive a top-notch education, clothing, and room and board--and will face the weighty expectation that they will emerge prepared to help lead Africa.

2 Truth to Power

Since 1921, the U.S. Capitol building has housed a 7.5-ton marble statue honoring American suffragists. But the tribute, which depicts three White women, including Susan B. Anthony, will soon have a sister joining the gang--abolitionist, orator and, yes, suffragist Sojourner Truth. Congress passed a bill in December to add her image to the monument.

3 The Original Queen of Soul

Renowned R&B singer Ruth Brown died at age 78 last November. She first shot to stardom in the 1950's with such rollicking hits as "(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean" and later went on to win a Tony and a Grammy.

4 Hold That Thought

"What I feel like saying is, 'Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies.'"

--CNN Headline News host Glenn Beck during an interview with African-American Congressman Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), who is the first Muslim elected to Congress

5 This Is What All the Fuss Is About?

Affirmative action was recently outlawed in Michigan, but that apparently won't change much for White college students. According to data from two Ivy League researchers, eliminating affirmative action would increase White students' chances of admission by a mere 1.5 percent.

6 Turning a "AIDS clinics are being funded by diamonds."

--Russell Simmons, who just so happens to own a jewelry company, quoted in the New York Post praising the African diamond trade. Contrary to Amnesty International's findings, he claims the industry no longer fuels human rights abuses and actually advances the continent.

7 Save the Children?

Of all the things to protect kids from, we never thought a book by Maya Angelou would be on the list. But some parents in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, want I know Why the Caged Bird Sings removed from the high school curriculum because it discusses rape and teen pregnancy.

8 On the Record

Emory University is putting information a bout slave trade voyages--buyers, genders and ages of Africans bought, prices paid and more--online for free. Scheduled for completion in 2008, the project will include records of more than 35,000 transatlantic slave voyages from 1595 to 1866.

9 Deadly Force

In November, narcotic agents with a "no knock" warrant burst to the Atlanta home of Kathryn Johnston, 88, and shot her to death.

10 Biblical Blowout

Who knew that Blair Underwood as Jesus and Samuel L. Jackson as the voice of God would be a hit? The Bible Experience, an audio Bible with a Black cast that includes Angela Bassatt and Denzel Washington, is a top seller on Wal-Mart's Web site and the most popular audio Bible ever stocked by Family Christian Stores. In its first six weeks on the market last fall, more than 70,000 units were sold.