Brilliance Audio

Terri Schichenmeyer  |   OW Contributor
Feb 8 2013

By Emily Herbert, read by Andre Blake

When you look back over your life, there’s a musical score behind it.
 
You cut your teeth on “A-B-C” and “Rockin’ Robin.” You hummed “I’ll Be There” in the ear of your first date. Later, you thrilled to “Thriller” and “Beat It” and you swore, with one white-gloved hand, that Billie Jean’s son was not yours. 
 
Then, almost four years ago, the song ended.
 

Terri Schichenmeyer  |   OW Contributor
Apr 7 2011

Author: Mary G. Butler, performed by Allyson Johnson

When it comes to arguing, nobody’s better than you.

You argue about bedtime, mealtime and bath time. You argue with your brother or sister. Some people might call you sassy. Others might say you’re dissing them.

But at school, they call it “debate,” and that’s where you learned that respectful arguing is as old as America. It’s also your best chance to change what’s wrong.

Terri Schichenmeyer  |   OW Contributor
Nov 18 2010

Written and read by Robert M. Poole

He was somebody’s baby once, and treasured.

His mother carried him nine months, anticipating the day she’d meet him; his father secretly hoped for a boy. His arrival was heralded, his childhood happy, his adolescence fleeting. He grew up to be a fine man, loved by family and friends, known for his valor and conviction.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.