Rev. Ira Acree admits he was a little skeptical when a relative suggested starting a praise-dance ministry in his West Side church. Acree allowed a praise-dance team and quickly became a convert when he saw the connection the praise dancers make with the congregation.

Austin residents learned once again about the serious health disparities between whites and blacks in Chicago at a recent health care event in Austin - and what they can do to close the gap.

With the baseball season now in full swing, it's not surprising that the movie, 42, is still setting box office records. The biopic focuses on baseball Hall of Framer Jackie Robinson's rookie season with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. Taking the field as the Dodgers' first baseman, Robinson broke the Major League Baseball color-barrier.

AustinTalks received two awards for its work in journalism on May 3. The Chicago Headline Club announced the 2012 winners of the Peter Lisagor awards at its annual dinner, where the area's top journalists were honored.

The Westside Branch NAACP hosted its annual Freedom Fund Banquet May 11 at Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Chicago.

My experience learning to walk with a prosthetic leg resulted in a significant discovery. In August 2011, my left leg was amputated above the knee because of a blood clot. While I recovered in the hospital, the doctors, nurses, and therapists asked me the same question. "Are you interested in an artificial limb?" they asked.

I grew up during the turbulent 1960s. I was in high school when I first learned of a Negro National Anthem. "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" came to represent for me the essence of the Black Power Movement. In my mind, that movement embodied black people becoming empowered to see ourselves as one contiguous group.

Terrell Rollins - "It would take about $100,000. I'd put a park on Parkside and Washington to keep people off the streets. I would like to earn this money."

The play, "The Chip Woman's Fortune," debuted on Broadway on May 15, 1923. It was the first nonmusical by an African-American playwright to run on Broadway.

"I am very proud of how we forever changed television and the music industry." -Randy Jackson, record industry executive and American Idol judge.