Hermene Hartman

In 2008, I was convinced, with the election of America's first Black President, we had leaped over the moon. I saw great promise. I was in Grant Park that warm night feeling the love and the change. Valerie Jarrett and I cried, hugged and kissed. "Do you believe it?" I...

Steve Harvey's, new movie that is an offshoot of his book, Think Like a Man, Act Like a Woman is a marvelous concept. It opens this week in theaters everywhere. Take your date to see it. The brilliance is taking the book about common sense relationships, as seen by Steve,...

I lost a business friend last week. His name was Jay O'Conner. A long time friend, O.J. Webb, introduced him to me. O'Connor died in New York on Monday, April 9. He was a new friend that I never met face to face. We talked four to six times daily...

Congressman Bobby Rush, the Democratic gentleman from the State of Illinois, and former black panther, was led off the congressional floor last week because he wore a hoodie. Congressional rule does not allow a congressman to wear a hat on the floor. A hoodie is considered a hat,...

Whitney Houston's voice was one of the most beautiful ever. She emoted with a rare pureness, any love song was hers. Her voice was stellar as it lingered. Her performance of a love song made you stand still and perhaps even shed a tear. She had the "Wow" factor.

The death of Don Cornelius was major news. I wonder if Cornelius, himself, realized his place on the American scene. His impact was powerful with multiple dimensions. Without a doubt he took Black music mainstream. He gave contemporary artists a TV platform that was little to non-existing. Every now and...

Last labor day at Millenieum Park, Michelle Boone, the city's Cultural Director, had a celebration remembering the days of Soul Train. It was a remarkable success. Salute was paid to Don Cornelius, the creator of Soul Train. Little did we realize his end was near.

It...

Movie producer, George Lucas, has taken a giant step, in bringing the story of the Tuskegee Airman to the big screen. In World War II, there were Black soldiers highly disciplined and trained for air missions, who were not allowed to function because they were Black. They were led and...

The City of Chicago has lost a gem.

Maggie Daley was a magnificent lady and her smile was always bright, no matter the situation or the event. Her quiet charm was regal. She was a quiet force.

Some people teach us how to live, some people teach us how...

On Black Friday, I co-hosted a radio program with my friend, Melody Spann Cooper, the President of WVON, a black talk station. We were having fun, cutting up but the mood changed when she said we have to take a call from Pastor Corey Brooks. He was calling to update...

Two weeks ago, some N'DIGO staffers and I, along with members of the Anti-Violence and Community Stabilization Committee officiated by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, met with neighborhood students regarding youth violence in Chicago.

The meetings were listening sessions and held at Little Black...

Herman Cain has captured America's imagination. He has demonstrated leadership in this day where it is lacking.

Doesn't matter whether you agree with him or not, he has put forth a clear direction. Doesn't matter whether you like it or not, it is clear.

How many times have you not...

I watched the ceremony unveiling Washington's 30-foot monument to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Touching. Moving. Profound. And indeed we have progressed since he delivered his "I have a Dream Speech" on the mall. History was right before your very eyes as the President spoke.

It is most befitting...

Steve Jobs lived a great life and taught a lot of lessons along the way. America has lost a genius. Besides Apple, what I like most about him is that he was an entrepreneur in the truest since of the word. He did not follow a traditional path, he adapted...

Michael Jackson undoubtedly was one of the most talented individuals to ever grace the stage.

He was also weird, strange and a curiosity.

He never got over his childhood engineered by his father, Joe, who was determined to take his children out of Gary, Indiana, where, as Black...

Do you believe this story? A wonderful story on an elderly Black woman who was over 100 years old, looking much younger than her actual years. At the end of the story, the out take music was a hip hop song saying "N****, N****... "

Was someone fired? How...

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood before the American public in Washington D.C on the mall where his statue is erected on August 28, 1963, and told America that he had a dream. His speech was one of the greatest ever made in the 20th century.The substance of the speech...

Sometimes someone comes along and captures the public's imagination. Some personalities have that special magic. Some movie moments are edged in your mind forever. You remember the scene even when you close your eyes.

So it is with the late blonde actress Marilyn Monroe, who is larger in her...

This week, Chicago experiences a new political era as the Daley years have ended.

Mayor Richard Daley has been historical in his reign as the longest sitting mayor in the city's history. We have seen him grow as a leader, he has served the corporate business community well, and his...

Father Michael Pfleger follows the priesthood in the tradition of the Baptist ministry of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He is an advocate, a personality and an out of the box thinker. He is a leader, not an obedient bureaucrat.

Pfleger was strongly...