With the tenth anniversary of 9/11 approaching, we wanted to ask our readers their thoughts and memories of that fateful September day.

Contribute to the conversation here at our Facebook page

The attacks, which occurred on September 11th, 2001, rocked our nation to the core.

The amount of damage done on this day can be found below:

• Total number killed in attacks (official figure as of 9/5/02): 2,819
• Number of firefighters and paramedics killed: 343
• Number of NYPD officers: 23
• Number of Port Authority police officers: 37
• Number of WTC companies that lost people: 60

We wanted to ask you our readers to tell us what you were doing at the time when the towers hit the World Trade Center. We also can’t forget the plane that crashed into the Pentagon, and the flight that also crashed in Pennsylvania.

We look forward to reading your memories.

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Check out our 9/11′s tenth anniversary coverage

Florida Governor Rick Scott has required that all welfare recipients in the state of Florida be drug-screened before receiving their benefits.

“It is unfair for Florida taxpayers to subsidize drug addiction,” said Scott.

The American Civil Liberties Union is currently suing the state of Florida for requiring state workers to be drug tested, and many expect them to sue against the mandated drug screening for welfare law.

What do you think of this law? Fair or foul?

Read more at Catholic

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A story written by Katti Gray on TheGrio.com talks about what it takes to raise a great father; and if there’s a given road you have to follow to hope you raise a man capable of being one.

Here’s an excerpt:

“I learned everything I know about fatherhood from the scriptures. The story of Abraham…blessing his children, those images were seared in my head as I began thinking about how to father my own kids,” said Mincy, reared in a New York City public housing project by a single mom.

With the Bible as his guide, said Mincy, director of Columbia’s Center for Research on Fathers, Children and Family Well-Being, he gave his boys an abundance of love. But love is merely a starting point, said Mincy and others fathers bent on raising their boys to someday be good dads.

Discuss your thoughts on this.

Read more at The Grio

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In speaking at Spelman’s commencement ceremony this past weekend, First Lady Michelle Obama talked directly to the members of her husband’s most loyal electorate – Black females. In 2008, there was no larger voting bloc that helped Barack Obama become president than Black women. Turnout at the polls among black women in 2008 was 68 percent.

With the Obama’s successful political and legal careers – and their strong emphasis on parenting, education, and religion – many in this generation liken the Obama’s to the real-life version of the fictional iconic black couple, Cliff and Clair Huxtable.

In the late 80′s, the duo of Bill Cosby and Phylicia Rashad represented the Black version of the American dream on The Cosby Show. Rashad, who played the role of Claire, shared the stage with Obama on Sunday, receiving an honorary doctorate degree.

While she gracefully declined to comment directly on the comparison, she called Obama “a great lady who represents many of the ideals of womanhood as powerful, dynamic, creative and nurturing.”

In an era where having it all — husband, career, children — is a bigger challenge than ever before for black women, here comes Michelle Obama. That’s why she excited this generation of Spelman about their own possibilities, without even trying to.

What do you think of the comparisons? Are they accurate or do you find them to be offensive in some manner?

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While the admission from CNN Anchor Don Lemon that he is gay shocked many in the media world, many African Americans are concerned with Lemon’s comments concerning homophobia and misogyny in the Black community.

Critics have pounced on Lemon claiming that he is perpetuating an unfounded stereotype that Blacks are more homophobic than other groups.

The Baton Rouge, La., native said, “You’re afraid that black women will say the same things they do about how black men should be dating black women.” In a later interview with the Loop21, he made his feelings even clearer, responding to a question about whether or not the black community is homophobic with a “yes.”

Read more at TheRoot

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Data from a recent study released today in the American Journal of Public Health showed that banning menthol cigarettes could save as much as 600,000 premature deaths by the year 2050.

Check out more information below and discuss whether you think these cigarettes should be banned.

The Grio reports:

With tobacco companies heavily marketing menthol cigarettes in minority communities, as many as 80 percent of African-Americans smokers smoke menthol cigarettes over other brands. African-American smokers die from lung cancer more than whites, even though their overall exposure to cigarette smoke is lower.

Despite a 22 percent decline in cigarette sales, menthol cigarette sales remained the same from 2000 to 2005. The FDA is reviewing data from the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee Meeting in March 2011 that showed public health would benefit from a menthol ban. The FDA has until mid-June to make an initial decision.

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Mendenhall tweeted, “It’s amazing how people can HATE a man they have never even heard speak. We’ve only heard one side…” and later tweeted “We’ll never know what really happened. I just have a hard time believing a plane could take a skyscraper down demolition style,” Mendenhall said.

His doubts about the death of Bin Laden reflect what many theories attempt to prove.

Do you agree that Americans may be blindly celebrating the death of Bin Laden?

Do you think the 9/11 attacks were staged?

Link: Why Was Osama Bin Laden Buried At Sea?

Link: Is That Him Or Not? Pictures Released Of Alleged Dead Osama

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Link: How The CIA Helped Create Osama Bin Laden

Link: Bin Laden Is Dead, But Now What?

Link: Is That Him Or Not? Pictures Released Of Alleged Dead Osama

Many blame incarceration of black men, drug and alcohol use in the community, and the simple fact that black women greatly outnumber black men.

Why do you think black women are not married more often then women of other races?

Is this as big of an issue in our community as it’s made out be?

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Many people are criticizing President Obama today for burying Osama Bin Laden at sea directly after his death at the hands of NAVY SEALs.

While the majority of the country is content with bin Laden dead, many feel he didn’t deserve a proper burial for his thousands of murders.

Below is a description of what an Islamic burial is. Let us know what you think in the comments section.

Funerals in Islam follow specific rites procedures. Sharia law (Islamic religious law) calls for burial of the body which includes a ritual where the body is bathed and shrouded followed by salah (prayer). Cremation of the body is forbidden as most burials occur in a grave with the head facing Mecca.

Bin Laden was not buried in a grave because U.S. officials wanted to prevent any type of honoring of his body by his supporters.

BATHING & ENSHROUDING:

The body is washed immediately after death with a shroud over it. Water is poured over the body with the cloth on top of it. In the case of Osama, who was probably disfigured, the body is placed in a shroud so blood leakage can be minimal. The cloth is plain and it is called Kafan. This is done to respect the dignity and privacy of the deceased. The deceased is kept with a shroud over him for several hours so people can pay their respects. This did not occur with Bin Laden.

FUNERAL PRAYER:

Muslims join together for a prayer that has been generally termed as the Salat al-Janazah (Janazah prayer).

Here is the Janazah prayer:

- Like Eid prayer, the Janazah prayer incorporates an additional Takbirs, the Arabic name for the phrase Allahu Akbar, but there is no Ruku’ (bowing) and Sujud (prostrating).

- Supplication for the deceased and mankind is recited.

- In extraordinary circumstances, the prayer can be postponed and prayed at a later time as was done in the Battle of Uhud.

- Dogma states it is obligatory for every Muslim adult male to perform the funeral prayer upon the death of any Muslim, but the dogma embraces the practical in that it qualifies, when Janazah is performed by the few it alleviates that obligation for all.

BURIAL:

The exact manner of burial is different amongst various Islamic groups.

The grave is aligned perpendicular to Qibla (i.e. Mecca). The body is placed in the grave without a casket. Most graves are marked only with a simple wreath. However, it is becoming more common for family members to erect grave monuments.

In Middle Eastern cultures women are generally discouraged from participating in the funeral procession. Many women scream loudly at funerals and Muslim men discourage that at such a ceremony. In fact, many wealthy families in pre-Islamic Arabia often hired “wailers” to attend funerals of the deceased. The reason for this is that in pre-Islamic Arabia it was customary in Arabia for grieving women to wail loudly. Wailing at funerals is not permitted in Islam.

Three handfuls of soil are poured into the grave by the orthodoxy while reciting a Quranic verse in Arabic meaning “We created you from it, and return you into it, and from it We will raise you a second time”. More prayers are then said, and the corpse is then fully buried by the gravediggers, who may stamp or pat down the grave to shape.

MOURNING:

Family members of the deceased are to observe a 3-day mourning period. It is observed by increased devotion, receiving visitors and condolences, and avoiding decorative clothing and jewelry.

Grieving is normal and weeping is accepted in Islam unlike wailing.

Widows observe an extended mourning period (iddah, period of waiting), 4 months and 10 days long, in accordance with the Qur’an. During that time, the widow is not to remarry, interact with na-mahram (with whom she can marry).

MORE INFO ON OSAMA BIN LADEN’S DEATH!!!

“Two souls and one thought, two hearts and one pulse”-Halen