Bruce Harrison, a Hawaii-based genealogist and founder of the Family Forest Project, has found links between Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and Presidents George Washington, James Madison, Harry Truman and Jimmy Carter. The company searched the ancestors of Obama's mother, Ann Dunham, dating back many centuries. He said the Family Forest shows Dunham having a number of her ancestral pathways leading back to early colonial Virginia and New England, and some extend back for many centuries into Europe. One of her ancestral pathways leads to one of Obama's 12th great-grandfathers, the Hon. Laurence Washington, who built Sulgrave Manor in Northamptonshire, England. Over the course of five centuries, according to recorded history, he became the ancestor of Washington, Carter, Gen. George S. Patton, Gov. Adlai Stevenson and Quincy Jones, Harrison said. Read more.

It's Not the SAT Keeping Black Students Back, It's AP Classes

Black high-school students are significantly underrepresented in AP courses that provide students with a jumpstart on college and serve as an early predictor of college success, according to The College Board's Advanced Placement Report to the Nation. Experts say checking teacher bias and improving identification of qualified black students can help. In 2006, 14.8 percent of all graduating high-school seniors scored at least a 3 on one AP exam--which makes them "qualified" in the subject and earns them college credit for testing out of an introductory course. Blacks are underrepresented in AP, comprising just 6.9 percent of AP's class of 2006 but 13.7 percent of the overall student population. Read more. And for more on how the SATs are failing America's black and Latino students, read the April issue of DiversityInc magazine.

ABC, Winfrey to Produce Documentary on Her South African School

ABC and Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Prods have teamed up for a primetime special to chronicle the talk-show host's five-year experience in building a school for disadvantaged girls in South Africa. The one-hour special also will feature the stories of some of the girls who study at the Academy. The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy--a 28-building campus boasting computer and science laboratories, a library, a theater and a wellness center--opened in January, reports Yahoonews. If you like reading about the controversy surrounding Oprah's school, see these stories: Why Are People Picking on Oprah? It's a Diversity Issue; Oprah Bashing: Why Is Her S. Africa School Under Fire?; and Oprah and Cosby: South Africa Vs. South Central.

Black MIT Professor Starts Hunger Strike Over 'Racist' Tenure Denial

A black MIT professor began a hunger strike Monday to protest the university's decision to deny him tenure, which he claims was based on race. James Sherley, a stem-cell scientist, said he tried for two years to persuade administrators at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to reverse the department head's rejection of his tenure bid. "I'm not actually doing this to get tenured," Sherley said. "I'm doing this for the reason that I wasn't tenured--which is racism--and I want this institution to admit that that is the problem and make plans to do something about it." University administrators denied Sherley's allegations and said less than half of junior faculty members are promoted to tenured positions, reports The Associated Press.

Bush Approves Military Command for Africa

The Pentagon will establish a new military command to oversee its operations in Africa, President Bush and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced Tuesday. Creation of the United States Africa Command, which had been expected, will "strengthen our security cooperation with Africa and create new opportunities to bolster the capabilities of our partners in Africa," Bush said. The president said he had directed Gates to establish the command by Sept. 30, 2008. The location of the command will be determined after discussions with Congress and officials of countries on the continent, Bush said. Gates, testifying Tuesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee, said creation of the command would eliminate an "outdated arrangement left over from the cold war." Read more.

Women of Color Need Heart-Health Awareness

Women of color in the United States are less aware of heart problems and stroke than their white counterparts despite being at greater risk of cardiovascular disease, according to a study released Monday. Bridging this knowledge gap is regarded as critical because awareness is key to potentially life-saving prevention, researchers said. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death among women in the United States, claiming the lives of nearly 500,000 each year in the country, and the mortality rate from these illnesses is highest among black women. Risk factors in general also are higher among ethnic minorities and those from lower-income groups, according to CNN.com.

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