Artist Lei Yixin with model of Martin Luther King Jr. memorial monument . (photo courtesy of the MLK Foundation) The opening of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to the public on October 16, 2011, both confirmed Dr. King’s place in world history and marked the triumphant implementation of a plan established by the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity in 1984. King is only the fourth American citizen who was not a president to receive such an honor and the first African American to do so. To continue reading please click this link : Countdown of 10 amazing moments from the year 2011: No. 4 the MLK Jr. Memorial - National African-American Art | Examiner.com

Poet Nikky Finney and novelist Jesmyn Ward.(photo courtesy of National Book Foundation) It is not uncommon in modern times for African-American women to win major literary awards but it is rare, if not unprecedented, for two such women to win the same major award in separate categories in the same year. That is precisely what happened on November 16, 2011, when Jesmyn Ward won the National Book Award for fiction and Nikky Finney accepted the award for poetry. “We begin with history” Finney, a professor of English and creative writing at the University of Kentucky, won the award for Head Off & Split, her fourth volume of poetry. Her previous titles include: The World Is Round (2003); Rice (1995); and On Wings Made of Gauze (1985). She is also author of the short story collection, Heartwood (1998). Upon accepting her National Book Award, Finney may have summed up just how triumphant the events of the evening turned out to be when she noted the following at the beginning her speech: P

Cover the NUL's annual State of the Black Union publication . Please click here for the complete story: Countdown of 10 great moments in 2010 (part 7): Barack Obama and The NUL - National African-American Art | Examiner.com

The late great jazz composer and actress Abbey Lincoln . For the full story please click the link: Countdown of 10 great moments in 2010 (part 6): The new ancestors - National African-American Art | Examiner.com

Celebrated playwright Ntozake Shange (photo by Stephen Lovekin) For complete story please click the link: Countdown of 10 Great Moments in 2010 (part 4): Cultured Ladies, Political Gents - National African-American Art | Examiner.com

Martina Davis-Correia, human rights activist and sister of death-row inmate Troy Anthony Davis. (photo by Getty Images) Please click this link for full story: Countdown of 10 great moments in 2010 (part 3): The prisoner and the poet - National African-American Art | Examiner.com