Brandon Stokes

Jesse Jackson participating in a rally, January 15, 1975 (Wikimedia Commons) The National Black Political Convention of 1972 saw many national giants on the Black political scene with Amiri Baraka and Jesse Jackson, and the specter of Shirley Chisolm’s run for president, all coalesce in one place. The adage of all politics is local could not have been more apt as Mayor Richard Hatcher’s city of Gary played host to the convention.

When a tornado touched down in Colorado this month, Raya Maday was blown away by what she saw — not just the tornado, but also her boyfriend, Tom Bedard, touching down on one knee. Bedard brainstormed the proposal idea that put his girlfriend on "Cloud 9." "I wanted to make sure that the proposal was of a magnitude that would represent how much I love Raya and how much I like the life that we have together," Bedard said. "The video speaks for itself. I didn't know what to think. I even backed up.