The waiting room at the American Medical Missionary Care clinic at 1320 N. Michigan in Saginaw is a busy place on a Friday afternoon. Patients -- old and young, black and white -- crowd around a large television and chat over the sound of a talk show.

They are waiting to see Dr. Chidozie J. Ononuju, who runs four medical clinics in Saginaw and Flint, along with a home visit service and outreach to residents at Saginaw senior housing complexes.

Ononuju estimates 70 percent of his patients have health insurance, many with Medicaid or Medicare, while he charges fees on a sliding scale to 20 percent of his patients and gives free care to the remaining 10 percent.

"We treat everyone, with or without insurance. I don't receive any grants. We are breaking even and then we give back.

"I work from 7 a.m. to about 10 p.m. many days and go to Flint on Thursdays. Coming from Africa, I believe in family and giving. We have to   more »

On Friday morning, Gene Cross was riding down the turnpike heading east to Toledo and practicing his introductory speech over the phone to longtime friend Cliff Warren, the men's basketball coach at Jacksonville University.

Warren heard the voice of Cross' mother, Haroleon Cross, in the background in the car and gave Gene advice he would later eschew: Don't look at your mother during your speech or you'll get emotional.

Gene told him, "I'm getting emotional now."

The new University of Toledo men's basketball coach calls himself "the biggest mama's boy there is," but that wasn't the sole reason for the feelings on the drive over from South Bend and during his speech. It was the thought that kept crossing his mind: "This is the job I was supposed to get."

"He and I talked all the time about what it's going to take to get a job," Warren said. "He's thankful and honored and I think he's going to cherish it for a very long time."

Cross is a guy who puts his team's grade point average on his resume. He's a crazy yet efficient driver in his hometown city of Chicago. He's a Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity brother. He's Haroleon's only child.   more »

Thirteen-year-old Sparkyl Williams plopped to the ground with exhaustion after stepping off the stage in Southeast High School’s auditorium Saturday night. “Oh, my feet hurt. I’m out of breath,” she panted excitedly. After a nearly 12-minute routine of stepping and hip-hop dancing, Sparkyl’s feet certainly deserved a rest. Step dancers use all their bodies as instruments to produce rhythms and sounds through footsteps, clapping and words.

Six teams competed, coming from as far south as Alton and north as Rockford, organizers said.

The competition capped off a daylong series of “edutainment” that highlighted stepping and HIV/AIDS prevention.

Kimberly Moore of the Network Group, which produces and promotes entertainment that combines health education with artistic expression, spearheaded the event to highlight the heritage of stepping in black fraternities and sororities.   more »

These construction workers stand out.

For the last few Saturdays, they've hammered and sawed, painted and caulked on a Habitat for Humanity house under construction in South Dallas.

"It's good to channel the grief you have into something positive," said seven-year breast cancer survivor Terri Swain of Azle, who brought her son along Saturday. "It's a cool project. There's a lot of energy, and you meet so many others."

While many cancer survivors help with races and relays, Breast Cancer Builds founder Sheron Patterson believes this is the first time a group of survivors has gathered to build a house.   more »

Theta Mu Sigma Chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. proudly crowned Charles Saunders, IV  Little Mr. Sigma 2008.  The Little Miss/Mr. Sigma Pageant was held on March 15, at Kernersville Library Auditorium at 4 p.m. following the chapters’ youth symposium.

Charles IV is the son of Norman Charles Sanders, III and Veronica Allen, and the grandson of Norman C. (Evelyn) Sanders, Jr.  He is a four-year-old Pre-K student at the Get Smart Pre-School in Sanford, N.C.  Charles is noted for his interest in fixing things around his grandparents’ house and his ability to find candy no matter where his grandparents have hidden it. He loves to play with his twin sister, Aireyona Saunders.

Little Charles and his sister are often visitors at Mount Zion Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, where his fraternal parents and grandparents are members.

Theta Mu Sigma Chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho sorority, Inc. sponsors the   more »

The national chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. hosted the first annual Emmitt Smith Scholarship Gala recently at the Renaissance Hotel in Dallas.

Smith is a lifetime member of the Phi Beta Sigma, a historically black fraternity founded in 1914. The fraternity strives toward its founders’ ideals of brotherhood, scholarship, and service to the community. From its inception, the original Founders, A. Langston Taylor, Leonard F. Morse, and Charles I. Brown, conceived Phi Beta Sigma as a mechanism to deliver services to the general community. Rather than gaining skills to be utilized exclusively for themselves or their families, the founders held a deep conviction they should return their newly acquired skills to the communities from which they had come. This is a principle Smith has exhibited throughout his life. This deep conviction is mirrored in the Fraternity's motto, "Culture For Service and Service For Humanity".

The first annual gala kicked off the endowed scholarship in Smith’s name, designed to benefit college athletes, who are members of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity. The first ever Emmitt Smith Scholarship will be awarded at the 2009 International Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana.   more »

Nicola McClain captivated the audience on Sunday, singing her way to the No. 1 spot in the ‘‘Omega Idol” countywide youth talent competition.
 
‘‘I’m really excited,” she said. ‘‘I’ve never really won a competition before.”

The Gaithersburg High School senior, who performed ‘‘I Am Changing” from the ‘‘Dreamgirls” soundtrack, impressed the judges with her stage presence and her big voice at the competition sponsored by the Mu Nu chapter of Omega Psi Phi fraternity.

‘‘She was the most comfortable on the stage,” said Godfrey E. Maynor, a competition judge and member of the fraternity, also noting McClain’s expressions and voice control.

Eight high school students from around the county competed for a $50 prize and a chance to advance to the District level competition in Atlantic City, N.J., during the event held Sunday at the East County Community Center in Silver Spring. Contestants sang, played violin, saxophone, piano and bass guitar, displaying a variety of musical talent.   more »

Very few people truly say how they feel, and even less say it as unabashedly as comedienne Sheryl Underwood.

Known for her no-holds-barred stand-up routine, Sheryl covers everything from sex, to current events, to politics. And make no mistake, she's earned stripes with a number of high profile comedy competitions including: the Johnny Walker Red Comedy Contest, the Funniest Woman at the Improv, the Old English Comedy Crunch and BET Comic View's Funniest Female Comedian.

And she also holds a Bachelor's and two Masters Degrees.   more »

The Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity took center stage with the aid of crutches, wheelchairs and a walker.

The men, dressed in hospital gowns and wearing neck braces, spun around in the chairs and used the crutches to create a beat. Before the end of their routine, team members were high stepping and clapping in sync at a fast pace.

The fraternity from Temple University used   more »

Members of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and employees of the Mississippi Department of Transportation provided BHS with "Rover," a truck body on a machine that simulates an accident in which the vehicle rolls over with passengers inside. As the truck rolls, dummies - like Bob - inside flop around and are ejected through the windows, just like in some rollover accidents.

"We have to make sure you graduate from high school and college. And in order to do that, you have to be alive," said Alpha Phi Alpha Alumni Chapter President Dexter Holloway. "Accidents happen, and we need to make sure you're prepared."

The speakers focused on two particular safety precautions: wearing a seat belt and not drinking and driving.

MDOT representative Lisa Valadie told the group that   more »