BET News will carry the speech live on BET J at 8 PM /7C. EST and it will re-air on BET at 10 PM E/9C. Jeff Johnson will host with guests offering pre and post analysis of the President’s speech and will address specifically the question, “what’s in it for us?” Guests will include Sophia Nelson, BET.com’s Pamela Gentry and Marjorie Innocent.

The President is expected to detail his plan for health care reform, counter some of the myths floating around about his plans and attempt to win the support of the undecided.

Tune in!

The United States, as evidenced by electing its first African-American president, has come a long way, President Obama told the nation’s largest and oldest civil rights organization Thursday, but he noted that there is still a long way to go. “What we celebrate tonight is not simply the journey the NAACP has traveled, but the journey that we, as Americans, have traveled over the past 100 years,” Obama told a packed audience at the group’s century anniversary. “Even as we inherit extraordinary progress that cannot be denied; even as we marvel at the courage and determination of so many plain folks – we know that too many barriers still remain.” He pointed out that “the pain of discrimination is still felt in America,” saying that racial and other barriers to success would only be overcome by the same diligence and commitment expended during the Civil Rights Era. “What is required to overcome today’s barriers is the same as was needed then,” he said. “The same commitment. The same sense of urgency. The same sense of sacrifice. The same willingness to do our part for ourselves and one another that has always defined America at its best.” And the Obama administration is doing its part to help progress continue, he said. “These are barriers we are beginning to tear down by rewarding work with an expanded tax credit; making housing more affordable; and giving ex-offenders a second chance. These are barriers that we are targeting through our White House Office on Urban Affairs, and through Promise Neighborhoods that build on Geoffrey Canada’s success with the Harlem Children’s Zone,” he said. “When it comes to higher education, we are making college and advanced training more affordable, and strengthening community colleges that are a gateway to so many with an initiative that will prepare students not only to earn a degree but find a job when they graduate; an initiative that will help us meet the goal I have set of leading the world in college degrees by 2020.” As for the economy, which is drawing increasing concern among lawmakers and the overall public, the president said that his Cabinet has been trying to “lay a new foundation for growth and prosperity.” He said that “one pillar of this new foundation is health insurance reform that cuts costs, makes quality health coverage affordable for all, and closes health care disparities in the process. Another pillar is energy reform that makes clean energy profitable, freeing America from the grip of foreign oil, putting people to work upgrading low-income homes, and creating jobs that cannot be outsourced.”

Lincoln led votes, Bush among worst in history. At least by Britain’s standards, Abraham Lincoln, President Barack Obama’s political mentor, is the greatest American president ever. The Times, a U.K. paper, released a President’s Day weekend poll showing that Bill Clinton was viewed as just mediocre, while John F. Kennedy missed the top 10 by one position. Lincoln, due to his holding together of the Union during Civil War times, was given top props. Obama’s predecessor George W. Bush, on the other hand, landed in the bottom 10 among Times staff vote results. Ronald Reagan, whose policies largely devastated Black America in the 1980s, also wound up near the bottom of the list.

Obama plans address for northern neighbors. President Barack Obama will cross the border this week to address America’s northern neighbor. On Thursday, the commander-in-chief will make his first appearance before Canadian government officials since his election to the White House. Among topics he’s expected to discuss are the American and international economy, and the military deployment in Afghanistan. Canadians, like many around the globe, have received Obama’s leadership with warm, positive words and receptive political gestures.

Farrakhan breaks silence about Obama. Breaking months of silence about the presidential race, National of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan said Sunday that God has prepared Sen. Barack Obama for the challenges he’ll face as president.  He added that Obama will be able to make positive changes with “God and people of good will,” and he urged his followers to do their part, reports The Associated Press. “President-elect Obama has energized all segments of the depressed, downtrodden, rejected and despised,” he said in a 90-minute speech at Mosque Maryam on the city’s South Side. “Now it is up to us to take the new energy that he has given us … and channel that energy into making ourselves better.” Read what else he said here.

As he addressed a crowd of 200,000 in the city that not long ago had elected him as its Senate representative, President-elect Barack Obama said in his acceptance speech, “I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to: It belongs to you.” Sounding conciliatory, humble and yet commanding, Obama acknowledged that there were doubters who wondered whether America was capable of electing a Black man as its leader, but he said his belief in America never wavered. “If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible …, tonight is your answer,” he said. But Obama also acknowledged that he faces some difficult challenges – a failing economy, high unemployment, a faltering housing market, spiraling energy costs, two wars and terrorist threats. But, in the face of those threats, Obama still delivered a message of hope, but cautioned against immediate results. “For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime – two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after the children fall asleep and wonder how they’ll make the mortgage or pay their doctors’ bills or save enough for their child’s college education. There’s new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build, and threats to meet, alliances to repair. The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you, we as a people will get there. …So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other. … And while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.” Watch Obama’s speech in its entirety here.

The Republican nominee focuses on his experience and his vision.
Sen. John McCain casts himself as the agent of change. The Republicans wrapped up their convention with Sen. John McCain stealing a play from the Barack Obama playbook – presenting himself and his party as the true agents of change. Did you buy what McCain was selling? Read more at Pamela On Politics.

Hillary calls for party unity and throws her support behind Obama

Sen. Hillary Clinton left little room for people to question whether she is a “team player” when she took to the stage in Denver last night to throw her support behind the first African American who will win an endorsement from a major party. It was a speech that will take a rightful place in history. Hear more of her speech here. Get the latest reaction from the floor of the convention at Pamela On Politics.

More dollars will be needed to cover the Dems in Denver.

Sen. Barack Obama has decided he’ll accept the Democratic presidential nomination in front of a record number crowd in Denver at the Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium, rather than before 20,000 at the Pepsi Center