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Church leaders say they are organizing caravans for absentee ballot drop-offs and in-person early voting, amid concerns over possible voter intimidation. (Oct 12) AP Domestic

When Henry Louis Gates Jr. was naminghis upcoming PBS documentary on the Black churchin America, he and series producer/director Stacey Holman quibbled over the title.

Gates, host of"Finding Your Roots," favored lyrics from the 1873 hymn"Blessed Assurance," while Holman championed "How I Got Over," a 1951 hymn performed by Mahalia Jackson and Aretha Franklin.

His earthly solution? Ask Oprah Winfrey.

"I emailed Oprah. I said, 'Stacey and I are arguing about this. What do you think?' One morning, I wake up. Iturn my cellphone on and there'sa message. It'sOprah. AndI played it and it was, 'This is our story, This is our song,' " the Harvard professor and authorsaid, imitating Oprah singing the slightly altered "Blessed Assurance" lyricsduring a Television Critics Association panel Friday. "And that was it. The vote had been cast."

Viewing guide: Black History Month TV guide: 10 shows that'll teach you a thing or two about the Black experience

Henry Louis Gates Jr. talks to music star John Legend, a fellow executive producer on Gates' PBS documentary, "The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song."(Photo: McGee Media)

Winfrey is one of many luminaries from the church, politics and entertainment featured in the four-hour documentary,"The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song" (Feb. 16-17, 9 EST/PST, check local listings). Others include John Legend, Jennifer Hudson, Yolanda Adams, BeBe Winans, Bishop Michael Curry, Rev. Al Sharpton and Rev. Raphael Warnock, the newly elected U.S. senator from Georgia.

"The Black Church"explores a bedrock religious institution with cultural and political influence far beyond church walls, dating back toreligious roots in Africa that contributed to what Gates called "a big religious foundational stew."

Oprah Winfrey, who participates in PBS' "The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song," played a decisive role in the naming of Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s four-hour documentary.(Photo: Jamie McCarthy, Getty Images for Global Citizen)

Legend, who joined Gates, Adams and Holman on the panel and is an executive producer, connected the message and power of the Black church with what its congregants have endured over centuries in America.

"So much of the way we'veinterpreted the Bible and so much of the way we'veembraced it has been about the struggle," said Legend, whose family was deeply involved in the church and its music during his upbringing in Ohio. "Inthe Old Testament, a lot of the doctrine that we hold onto is that that idea of the Exodus, going to the Promised Land, Moses leading his people to freedom and 'Let my people go' these were the mantras thatwere part ofthe freedom movement, both freedom from slavery and freedom from Jim Crow."

Henry Louis Gates Jr., seen in Atlanta's historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, is the executive producer, writer and host of PBS' "The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song."(Photo: McGee Media)

The documentary, which delves deeply into music,notes flaws in the church, including a male-dominated leadership presiding over a largely female membershipand a history of homophobia, Gates said. However, the projectmostly celebrates an institution that remains relevant, he said, describing his experiences at a chapel on Martha's Vineyard as "a circle of warmth."

Such religious gatherings are "a celebration of our culture, our history, of who we are, of how we got over, how we survivedthe claustrophobic madness of hundredsof years of slavery and then a century of Jim Crow andthen anti-Black racism that we saw manifest itself at the capital in the last four years underDonald Trump andin the Capitol on January 6," he said. "It'sthatthat I wanted to celebrate in an honest way."

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How Oprah picked the title for PBS documentary on the Black church in America - USA TODAY

I wish Dr. Ben Carson was my family doctor. I wish Condoleezza Rice was my next-door neighbor. I wish I could vote again for Ronald Reagan. I wish I could have Clarence Thomass autograph. I wish I could have voted for Elizabeth Dole somewhere along the way. I wish I lived in San Diego (at least for a short period of time) so that I could be a member of Dr. David Jeremiahs church. I wish I could have met Rosa Parks obviously, a woman of great courage.

Conversely, I could never vote for Ted Kennedy nor Barack Obama, nor Richard Nixon. And, I could never attend a church where Pastors Jeremiah Wright, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson were spiritual leaders likewise for Jim Bakker and Jim Jones of Peoples Temple infamy.

I believe most Americans today make their choices in politics and religion not with regard to race or gender, but based on their perceived notions about where individuals stand with regard to character, biblical beliefs and patriotism. Do these people believe what I believe? Would I want to live next door to them? Do they have the best interest of this nation in mind when they represent us in elected office?

In the world of sports, Lebron James is not one of my heroes same for Barry Bonds, Pete Rose and Roger Clemons. Count me in for Larry Doby, Hank Aaron, Lou Gerig, Sandy Koufax, Bobby Richardson and, more recently, Kurt Warner, Tim Tebow and Curt Schilling.

Having said all that, I am concerned about hate in America today. In this day and age, there are many accusing others of being haters just because they dont agree with whatever these folks believe. Some want to rid our nation to cancel out anyone that doesnt agree with them. Free speech is ridiculed, condemned, disparaged.

The First Amendment of our Constitution is under attack. Yes, I suspect we are all guilty at one time or another of saying something wed like to take back, but we all need to take care caring for one another and honoring the right to speak freely on any matter. Hate is a two-way street lets all take care.

And a final thought: Just because I dont agree with you doesnt mean I hate you. Conversely, dont hate me if I disagree with your views.

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Hate is a two-way street | Opinion | sent-trib.com - Sentinel-Tribune

I mean, I dont even have to say it, but do you see this cover?? Look at all that animated Blackness permeating that bright yellow background. I like to think that yellow represents the sun, and everybody on the cover is the Black gold of the sun?

This cover is for Miles Davis 1972 album called On the Corner, an album in the line of his jazz fusion works. And there aint much Blacker than a Black jazz trumpeter. A Black jazz trumpeter whose name is Miles. If that aint Black cool, I dont know what it is.

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Lets get to the cover though. Who do we have out here on the corner? So we have Camp Lo in the back wearing a pink suit and striped bell bottoms that are grey and white with a brown shirt and a cool oversized newsboy cap and somehow that whole damn outfit works. Why? Because Black folks are doing it. Then we have Al Sharpton pretending he aint got no money for his lady friend who either owes money to or who he promised he would send downtown on a shopping spree because that fro and that donk caught him off-guard. It will get you every time.

Then you have a few members of Fat Alberts gang who are getting into politics slappin five on the Black hand side about voting for Miles, while one holdout really doesnt believe in voting because it doesnt matter. Not for nothing, his hair is colored ombre and Im sure that has something to do with it.

And last but not least, we have Delroy Lindo walking down the street with a Free Me button on because, well, who doesnt want to be free. By the way, I made up who the people were just in case somebody takes it to heart.

Either way, this is a pretty damn Black album cover that could be on the corner of any city in America though I get New York City vibes, especially Harlem.

It doesnt matter where its at, though, because Black is beautiful. And so is this album cover.

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28 Days of Album Cover Blackness with VSB, Day 7: Miles Davis' On the Corner (1972) - Yahoo Lifestyle

HARLEM, NY Residents of Harlem will get a chance to say a final goodbye to Cicely Tyson at a public viewing for the legendary actor in her native neighborhood next week.

A public viewing for Tyson, who died last week at 96, will be held Monday, Feb. 15 at Abyssinian Baptist Church, her family announced.

Guests will be required to comply with COVID-19 protocols by wearing masks and maintaining social distancing at the viewing, which will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. No photographs will be allowed.

Tyson, the daughter of immigrants from Nevis, was born in East Harlem in 1924.

After her parents separated, nine-year-old Tyson sold shopping bags on the neighborhood's streets for extra cash, ABC7 reported.

Even long after she'd left the neighborhood, the Rev. Al Sharpton told CBS that Tyson "would not let you talk about Harlem in a negative."

"She did not leave Harlem to go mainstream. She made mainstream come and celebrate Harlem and her grace and her presence spoke for itself," he said.

Tyson began her career as a model, became a stage actress and entered the mainstream in 1972 when she was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in the film "Sounder."

In the 1990s, a nonprofit housing developer redeveloped four East Harlem buildings to house 58 low-income families including the East 101st Street walkup where Tyson grew up, 6sqft reported.

Tyson attended the building's dedication, telling attendees, "To have some place memorialized in that manner means more to me than I can verbalize."

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

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Harlem Native Cicely Tyson To Have Public Viewing At Famed Church - Patch.com

Al Sharpton Net Worth and Salary: Al Sharpton is an American Baptist minister, civil rights activist, and television/radio talk show host who has a net worth of $500 thousand dollars. He is known as an outspoken and controversial political activist in the fight against racial prejudice and injustice in America.

Alleged Financial Problems: In November 2014, a New York Times expos reported that Al Sharpton was allegedly facing serious financial problems. The Times report claimed that Sharpton and his businesses owe $4.5 million in state and federal back taxes. Of that amount, roughly $3.7 million is supposedly Al's personal tax debt. Sharpton refuted the reports and stated that the liens had been paid down. He did not say how much he had paid the debt down by and the Times could not confirm his claims.

Early Life: Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. was born in Brooklyn, New York City, on October 3, 1954, to Ada and Alfred Charles Sharpton Sr. His father left the family in 1963, and his mother was unable to support the family on her own. They qualified for welfare, and moved from their middle class neighborhood to the public housing projects in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn. He graduated from Samuel J. Tilden High School, and continued his education at Brooklyn College, dropping out after two years there.

When he was around age nine or ten, Sharpton was licensed and ordained as a Pentecostal minister by Bishop F.D. Washington. After Washington's death in the late 1980s, Sharpton became a Baptist, and was re-baptized in 1994 by the Reverend Willian Augustus Jones, becoming a Baptist minister.

Career: In 1969, Jesse Jackson appointed Sharpton as the youth director of the New York City branch of Operation Breadbasket, an organization that promotes better employment opportunities for African Americans. In 1971, Sharpton established the National Youth Movement to raise resources and funds for impoverished youth. By the 1980s he had become a nationally-known activist for people who have experienced racial prejudice. One of his earliest high-profile cases involved a teenager named Tawana Brawley, who claimed she had been abducted and raped by a group of white men. Unfortunately, these claims turned out to be entirely false. He has also spoken out on behalf of others like Bernhard Goetz, Yusef Hawkins, Amaudou Diallo, Tayvon Martin, and Eric Garner, among others. In 1991, he founded the National Action Network, an organization dedicated to increasing voter education, support small community businesses, and generally provide resources to those struggling with poverty.

In June 2009, the Reverend Al Sharpton led a memorial for Michael Jackson at Harlem's Apollo Theater. A lifelong friend of the Jackson family, Sharpton said Michael Jackson was a "trailblazer" and a "historic figure" who loved the Apollo Theater. Sharpton continues to share his views on injustice and tackle today's issues through his television and radio programs. He began hosting his own daily national talk radio program "Keepin It Real with Al Sharpton" in January 2006 on Radio One. He has also been the host of MSNBC show "PoliticsNation" since 2011, and is a regular contributor to the weekday morning NBC news and talk show "Morning Joe".

Sharpton is the author of three books, "Al on America", "The Rejected Stone: Al Sharpton and the Path to American Leadership", and "Go and Tell Pharaoh" with Nick Chiles.

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Political Campaigns: Sharpton has run unsuccessfully for elected office on multiple occasions, including a United States Senate seat from New York in 1988, 1992, and 1994. In 1997, he ran for Mayor of New York City. He tried to run for President in 2004, but his campaign was marred by multiple financial issues. He had received funds from the federal government for his campaign, but had exceeded federal limits on personal expenditures. As a result, he agreed in 2005 to repay $100,000 of the public funds he had received. In 2009, the Federal Election Commission imposed a fine of $285,000 against his 2004 presidential campaign team for breaking campaign finance rules.

Personal Life and Views: Sharpton met his future wife Kathy Jordan, a backup singer, while touring with James Brown in 1971. They married in 1980, and separated in 2004. In January 1991, he was stabbed in the chest by Michael Riccardi while preparing to lead a protest in Brooklyn, New York. Riccardi was apprehended by Sharpton's aides, and convicted of first-degree assault in 1992 with a sentence of 15 years in jail. He was released in 2001 on parole after serving 10 years in jail. Sharpton filed a suit against New York City alleging that the many police that had been present at the time, who were there for the planned protest, had failed to protect him. The suit reached a $200,000 settlement in December 2003.

In 2001, Sharpton was jailed for 90 days at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, for trespassing while protesting against U.S. military target practice exercises in Puerto Rico.

Sharpton previously made some controversial comments about the LGBTQ community, including using the word "homo" during an address at Kean College in 1994. However, since then he has become an advocate for the ending of homophobia in the African-American community.

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Al Sharpton Net Worth | Celebrity Net Worth