By Bill Mears and Moni Basu, CNN

(CNN) - Come this summer, Judge Richard Cebull will be conducting business in a brand new $79 million federal courthouse in Billings, Montana, paid for through President Obama's economic recovery program. That is, if Cebull survives the firestorm engulfing him for forwarding a racist e-mail about the president.

Several advocacy groups and lawmakers have called for Cebull's resignation, but the judge will probably not face any harsh punitive action, said CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin.

It's rare and generally very difficult to force federal judges from office. They receive tenure, and the Constitution guarantees they can remain on the bench during good behavior.

Read the full story

Editor's Note:  The radio play will broadcast nationally on public radio in September. A full list of The Greene Space events celebrating the 75th anniversary of "Their Eyes Were Watching God" is available here.

By Alicia W. Stewart, CNN

New York (CNN) – When reading Zora Neale Hurston’s seminal literary work,"Their Eyes Were Watching God"– the coming of age love story that chronicles Janie Crawford's search for self– the musicality of the language tickles the ear.  In this excerpt, Tea Cake reassures his wife Janie of his love for her:

Whut wud Ah do with that lil chunk of woman wid you around? She ain’t good for nothin’ exceptin’ tuh set up in uh corner by de kitchen stove and break wood over her head. You’se something tuh make uh man forgit tuh git old and forgit tuh die.

It seems fitting, then, that a 75th year celebration of the novel includes the first American radio play adaption in New York.

Narrated by Emmy and Tony-Award Winner Phylicia Rashad,  Hurston’s words danced and swayed in The Greene Space, a multimedia venue,  punctuated by sound effects and music. FULL POST

By Bill Mears, CNN

(CNN) - Montana's chief federal judge has offered his apologies for forwarding a racist e-mail aimed at President Barack Obama. Liberal advocacy groups demanded that U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull to resign.

Cebull, in an interview Wednesday with the Billings Gazette newspaper, offered his regrets for forwarding the e-mail, saying it was "a hard lesson to learn."

"To say it's inappropriate and stupid is an extreme understatement," according to the newspaper. "There is no doubt it's racist. It wasn't forwarded for that purpose. If anything, it was political."

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By John Martin, CNN

(CNN) – Howard, Morehouse, Spelman, Tuskegee, Xavier – these are just a few of America's Historically Black Colleges and Universities, known as HBCUs. HBCUs are accredited historically black institutions of higher learning established before 1964. While many of these colleges are located in the South, there are HBCUs as far north as Michigan and as far west as Oklahoma. While some HBCUs are public and others private, all of them serve a principle mission to educate black Americans.

Several Morehouse and Spelman college students who we interviewed recently discussed the diversity they see on campus. They told us that HBCUs are "not exclusively black" and also serve international students and students from other ethnicities. Morehouse junior Jarrad Mandeville-Lawson, who comes from Matawan, New Jersey, identified himself as "Nigerian, Italian and Greek," and said, "My high school is majority Caucasian so I don't actually have those strong African-American traits that people would assume I would have." In 2008, Joshua Packwood became the first white valedictorian in Morehouse's history.

Students from both schools talked about their schools’ nurturing environments. At Morehouse, one of America's few all-male campuses, the students talked about the school's strong tradition of a brotherhood. Mandeville-Lawson told us, "We're going to constantly have our brother's back and uplift them.....These are my brothers. I'm going to do everything possible to make sure they stay strong and to get them where they need to be." Spelman senior Gabrielle Horton echoed Mandeville-Lawson's sentiments. "When you think of Spelman you think of the 'Spelman Sisterhood' ... You're indoctrinated with that your first year ... They have their brother's back, we have our sister's back. And that's something we just carry with us every day," Horton said.

Read the full story on CNN's schools of thought blog

By Stephanie Siek, CNN

(CNN) – The Pulitzer Prize-winning book "Slavery by Another Name: The Re-enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II," by Douglas Blackmon, tells the story of African Americans in the post-Reconstruction south who were imprisoned and forced into involuntary servitude after being convicted of trifling crimes. Now a modern-day prisoner in Alabama is suing for his right to read the book.

The lawsuit, filed in September, alleges that when officials at the Kilby Correctional Facility in Mt. Meigs, Ala. denied prisoner Mark Melvin access to the book, it was a violation of his rights to "freedom of speech, equal protection and due process." The case is currently in the discovery phase.

The Alabama Department of Corrections declined comment for this story, citing the pending litigation. In their answer to the lawsuit, they admitted that Melvin had been denied access to the book, but denied any violation of his rights.

The Department said the book was in violation of its rules about what kind of reading material can be sent to inmates – namely that "the book, its title, its contents and/or its pictures could be used (or misused) by the plaintiff or other inmates to incite violence or disobedience within the institution." They also noted that the book, which describes the forced labor of African Americans in detail, "could also be used (or misused) in a manner which is inconsistent with legitimate peneological objectives, for instance the rehabilitation of inmates through prison work details and/or the inculcation of a work ethic."

FULL POST

By Alex Kellogg and Alyse Shorland, CNN

(CNN) - Marcus Samuelsson and Roblé Ali are two different chefs.

Samuelsson, 41, is an established name amongst foodies and the proprietor of Red Rooster, a renown Harlem restaurant.

Ali, 27, is an up and coming chef and animated reality-show star who works full time as an established caterer.

Samuelsson has made a name for himself embracing his identity as both a black chef and a Swedish immigrant to the United States, but younger chefs like Ali find themselves pushing back against being known simply as a “black chef.” Ali, who’s still building his brand, was frustrated when a blog author unexpectedly labeled him a “hip-hop chef.”

“Who takes you serious when you’re the hip hop chef?” said Ali. “And why am I the hip hop chef, because I’m black? I’m not break dancing.”

For decades, many African Americans were reluctant to enter a profession they associated with servitude and slavery. Cooking was reminiscent of second-class citizenship, and antiquated images of Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben dominated the nation’s associations of blacks and kitchens.

“George Washington had a slave chef, as did Thomas Jefferson. It ain’t nothing new,” said Jessica Harris, a culinary scholar and the author of books on the foods of the African Diaspora. “I think that has lifted in many families, but I don’t think that it has lifted in all African-American families.”

In recent years, African Americans have begun to trickle into the field in growing numbers. FULL POST

CNN's documentary, "Black in America 2: Tomorrow's Leaders," followed men and women making a difference in the black community.  When we met Mia Jackson, a young woman with an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering, she said she wanted to further her career. She applied to Management Leadership for Tomorrow, an MBA prep program dedicated to preparing minorities for executive positions in business.

Since then, Mia has graduated from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management with a dual degree: an MBA and a Masters in Engineering Management.  But she says it was all at a great cost.  Hear why in this Black in America update.

Editor’s Note: Nischelle Turner is a CNN correspondent and appears on HLN's ‘Showbiz Tonight’

By Nischelle Turner, CNN

(CNN) – The day after the Academy Awards talk is usually filled with who won what, who wore what and who went to which party. But this year’s post Oscar chatter seems to be all about who kept it “real”!

The answer? “The Help’s” best actress nominee Viola Davis.

Before I even spoke to Viola on the red carpet, she caught my attention, her flawless skin poured in a form fitting, bold green Vera Wang dress, accented by a mega-watt smile.

I thought: "Wow she looks great"! Others were commenting on how great she looked too, and then I heard: “Oh my…she’s natural!”

The fascination with natural, African-American hair

I did a double take, and said: "Yes! She decided to take the wig off!"

She had worn her hair natural earlier at the Essence Black Women in Hollywood Luncheon, and when she graced the cover of LA, Los Angeles Times Magazine.

But this was the Oscars, Hollywood’s biggest night!

Viola Davis: I’ve really stepped into who I am

I thought: this is a bold move.

“My husband said, 'Be who you are,'" says Davis. "Step into who you are. [And] I really have. I felt like this project forced me to step into who I was, the choice of playing a maid in 1963 with a broken dialect, and having to defend my choice...You’ve gotta be who you are and be very confident and bold in who you are."

Her husband, Julius Tennon, told me it may look bold, but she is sending a message that it is okay to be who you are: this is just who Viola is in her everyday life.

So it’s only –excuse the pun–NATURAL.

Praise pours in for Viola Davis' natural 'do

I have covered red carpets for eight years, and it’s very rare to see black women in Hollywood wearing their hair natural. Personally, as a brown girl who has had hair issues and wears a head full of weave, I was screaming for joy that this gorgeous woman who looks like me, had the courage to say to the superficial world of Hollywood: “I’m fine with who I am."

She may not have won the Oscar, but she got the “authenticity” award in my book.

Editor’s Note: Rev. DeForest "Buster" Soaries is the senior pastor at First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in Somerset, New Jersey. He is a former Secretary of State of New Jersey, and was featured in "Almighty Debt: A Black in America Special.” 

By Rev. DeForest B. Soaries Jr., Special to CNN

(CNN) – When I was a child, if a crime were committed, my grandmother would say, “I hope he wasn’t colored.” Her concern was that all African-Americans suffered whenever one of us was caught doing something wrong. In those days black people raised their children to abstain from behavior that would give credence to the stereotypes that society had used to characterize us and justify the injustices heaped upon us. And most of us embraced that ethic.

Today I understand how my grandmother felt – not so much from a racial perspective but rather from a vocational perspective. As a member of the clergy, I am always hoping that an accused child molester or an embezzler from some community organization is not a member of the clergy. In 1982, the Gallup organization reported that 63% of people surveyed felt that clergy had high or very high honesty and ethical standards. This topped a list of various professions including lawyers (25%), members of Congress (15%) and car salespersons (6%). By 2011, Gallup reported that nurses topped the list of those believed to have high or very high levels of honesty and ethical standards with 84% believing they did. Lawyers dropped to 19%; members of Congress dropped to 7%.  Lobbyists and car salespersons were also at 7%.  And clergy dropped to 52%. That means that almost half of the people surveyed do not feel that members of the clergy are honest and have high ethical standards.

And I am not surprised. The inappropriate antics of many clergy could easily cause one to wonder if there are any moral standards for those who preach and teach morality. We are all too familiar with the flaws among some Catholic priests and their highly publicized breaches of trust and sexual indiscretions with children. But Protestants have our share of disgraces in the pulpit, too. Homosexual bashing pastor Ted Haggard left his giant church in 2007 following a gay sex scandal. He later admitted to GQ, "I think that probably, if I were 21 in this society, I would identify myself as a bisexual." Prosperity preacher and television evangelist Robert Tilton was accused of throwing away prayer requests that he received from donors and television viewers without even reading them. And mega-church pastor Eddie Long settled lawsuits with four young males who accused him of coercing sex acts. It is time for a remedy within Protestant churches.

FULL POST

Editor’s Note: Sheryl Lee Ralph is a Tony nominated actress and Independent Spirit Award winner for best supporting actress. Her new book "Redefining DIVA" is published by Simon & Schuster will be available March 13.

By Sheryl Lee Ralph, Special to CNN

(CNN) - This year, the Academy Awards had my attention because of the 1960s coming of age film "The Help."

As thrilled as I am about Octavia Spencer winning an Oscar, and Viola Davis being nominated for best actress, I am not thrilled about the roles they played.

That’s right:  I am sick and tired of the maid, mammy, and big mama on the couch.

The movie upset me. It wasn’t about 'the help", it was a young white woman’s coming of age story and “the help” helped her get out of the south leaving the women who risked everything for her “freedom,” in the bondage of racism, sexism and exploitation.

My nerves were worked! I’d seen this story before. White girl makes good and leaves her mammy behind.

Seventy-two years ago, Miss Hattie McDaniel graced the Oscar stage and became the first Negro, as we were called back then, to win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress with her portrayal of Mammy, Scarlett O' Hara's house slave and second mother in “Gone with the Wind.” Mammy was another wonderful character; a woman who knew what was right and refused to let her white charge do wrong.

Hollywood loves a good black maid.

See Octavia Spencer's acceptance speech

I cannot tell you how happy I am to see the talent of Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer celebrated.

I remember when Octavia did one of her first TV performances with us on the set of "Moesha." She was wonderful then with that trademark sassy, and just watching Viola come into her own fashion self has been delightful.

Viola Davis: I've really stepped into who I am

Sunday night, Oscar night, the maid once again went home with the gold.

I will float on the cloud of her win knowing that I am more than a maid, and with this victory, maybe I am  closer to showing all the different sides of me as a black woman and actress.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Sheryl Lee Ralph.

Editor's Note: This piece has been updated to reflect Oscar news.