Talk about hatin’ on Barack Obama …, three White men from New York were so angry that he had become the first African-American president that they went into a frenzy, yelling racial slurs and beating up Black folks, according to federal prosecutors. They even whipped a White man they thought was Black. “Shortly after learning of Barack Obama’s victory, [they] decided to find African Americans to assault in retaliation for an African-American winning the election,” prosecutors said in court papers Wednesday. Read the rest here.

Will Hillary Clinton be the next Secretary of State? Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is among the candidates that President-elect Barack Obama is considering for secretary of State, reports The Associated Press. The news comes from two Democratic officials close to the Obama transition team, AP says. Read the rest here.

No records set on Election Day. Turnout in last week’s election increased from four years ago but fell far short of some forecasts, largely because many Republican voters either stayed home or left blank the presidential section of their ballots. In states won by President-elect Barack Obama, turnout was more than 5 percentage points higher than in states won by Republican John McCain, according to a Globe analysis of data compiled by a pair of researchers who study voting patterns in U.S. elections, reports The Boston Globe. 

A foundation funds Black archives. The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation has awarded a $1 million grant to the Kansas City Public Library to help finish the expansion and renovation of space for the Black Archives of Mid-America, reports the Kansas City Business Journal. The archives will be housed in a former administration building for the Kansas City Parks and Recreation Department. To recognize the grant, the archives will designate a public space named after Ewing Kauffman to be used for research, exhibits, training and presentations. The building’s renovation is expected to be completed by the fall of 2009.

Be heard at the ballot box and cast your vote today.  Today is Election Day, and regardless of the results, this will go down as one of the most significant days in American history.  On Monday night hip-hop celebs held a “Get out the Vote” rally at Mayme Moore Park in Columbus, Ohio’s King Arts Complex.  Rapper Jay-Z, Mary J. Blidge and P. Diddy Combs were on hand to spur voters to the polls. Read more at Pamela on Politics.

Now is not the time to get comfortable. That’s the message Barack Obama is sending out to voters.  “We can’t afford to slow down, or sit back, or let up, for one day, for one minute, for one second in this last week,” the Democratic presidential nominee told supporters in Florida. “Not now. Not now,” Obama said. “We’ve got to work hard.”  And according to The Associated Press, Obama has a point considering “the slippery nature of polls, the Democrats’ history of heartbreak, the still-to-be-determined effect of race, the desire not to jinx himself.” Despite all the polling pointing in his favor, there is still a feeling in his campaign that anything can happen on Election Day.   Click here for BET.com’s Election Day coverage.

Get up, get out and Be Heard! Vote and catch Election Day coverage live all day on BET and BET.com Nov. 4.  Get news updates, watch our new president-elect on a live online video stream, report voting problems at BET.com’s voter protection page and send in your photos, comments and video. Get more on BET’s Election Day plans here.

African-American voters could turn red states blue.  With only six days remaining before Election Day, one Black lawmaker says his state could turn from “red” to “blue” with the level of enthusiasm from first-time Black voters. Read more at Pamela on Politics.

Imagine getting sent home on Election Day … because of your shirt.

Could you be turned away at the polls on Election Day?  According to an e-mail that’s circulating, you could if you show up wearing gear that supports Obama.  Get more at You(th) Vote. What do you think about this?