By Kathy Wray Coleman, Associate Publisher, Editor, Cleveland Urban News. Com and The Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog.Com

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina- President Barack Obama (pictured) and former President Bill Clinton (pictured) teamed up last week at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC and showed how performances at national party conventions can dictate outcomes on election day.

Since the convention Obama has broken a previous tie that he had coming in to it and now leads 49% to GOP opponent Mitt Romey's 45%, with 3% undecided and another  3% saying they will vote for other candidates, according to a presidential tracking poll on Sunday by the Ramussen Reports.

The president is also ahead in Ohio, leading Romney 50% to 45%, a Public Policy Poling (PPP) survey released on Monday shows.

A Gallup daily tracking poll also has Obama leading Romney nationally, 49% to 44 %.

By Kathy Wray Coleman, Associate Publisher, Editor, Cleveland Urban News. Com and The Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog.Com, and Cleveland Urban News.Com Marketing Director and Copy Editor Marc Churchill

CLEVELAND, Ohio- Cleveland Urban News.Com nabbed an interview with actor, songwriter and nine-time Grammy award winning pop and R and B singer John Legend (pictured), a native of Springfield, Oh. who was campaigning in his home state for the upcoming November 6 presidential election for President Barack Obama (pictured), America's first Black president. (Editor's note: Read the one-on-one interview below this brief synopsis).

Legend, 33,  talks music, politics, Republican pushed voter suppression state laws in Ohio and elsewhere, gay marriage, reproductive rights, the necessity of the Black vote, and  his upcoming marriage to model Chrissy Teigen.

And he talked just a little on Kanye West, and yes, the beautiful Kim Kardashian, Kayne's new girlfriend.

The Grammy award winning pianist and keyboardist got his start singing back-up vocals for Alicia Keys and Lauryn Hill, and sang with other famous musicians including West, and other rappers like Jay-Z and Andre 3000.  He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a bachelor's degree in English.

Legend won 3 of his Grammy awards in 2011, including best R and B album for 'Wake Up,' a project he did with the group The Roots, and best R and B song for 'Shine,' a popular cut on the album. He has an estimated net worth of $15 million, and has made acting appearances on popular television shows such as Sesame Street and  Dancing With The Stars.

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Interview

Cleveland Urban News.Com Associate Publisher and Editor Kathy Wray Coleman:

I’m Kathy Wray Coleman of Cleveland Urban News.Com.

John Legend:

It’s a pleasure.

Cleveland Urban News.Com:

It’s a pleasure to talk to you too. And I have with me our copy editor Marc R. Churchill, and he will be asking you some questions also.

John Legend:

Okay

Cleveland Urban News.Com:

Are you ready to go?

John Legend:

Ready when you are.

Cleveland Urban News.Com:

Let me first thank you for this interview.

John Legend:

My pleasure.

Cleveland Urban News.Com:

You will be 34 -years- old this year, I understand.

John Legend:

Yes, in December.

Cleveland Urban News.Com:

You’re still a young man. Did you graduate from

Springfield High School?

John Legend:

I went there-Springfield North High School.

Cleveland Urban News.Com:

So you’re an Ohioan?

John Legend:

Absolutely, born and raised...

Cleveland Urban News.Com:

So Springfield is 30 miles east of Dayton?

John Legend:

Yes, it’s about 25 to 30 miles east of Dayton.

Cleveland Urban News.Com:

You attended college at the University of Pennsylvania?

John Legend:

Yes, I graduated from there back in 1999.

Cleveland Urban News.Com:

What degree did you earn?

John Legend:

I majored in English, with a concentration in African-American literature and culture.

Cleveland Urban News.Com:

Why are you supporting President Barack Obama?

By Kathy Wray Coleman, Associate Publisher, Editor, Cleveland Urban News. Com and The Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog.Com

LOS ANGELES, California-Michael Clarke Duncan, the Black actor who was nominated for an Oscar for his role as a gentle- giant prisoner opposite Oscar winner Tom Hanks in the 1999 America motion picture drama 'The Green Mile, is dead at 54.

The former body guard  for Jamie Fox, Will Smith and other mega stars who stood 6-foot-4 died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on  Labor Day on Sept. 3 of natural causes following a heart attack in July.

Duncan grew up in Chicago, IL. and  was raised by a single mother. He attended Alcorn University and had smaller roles in film before the hit "The Green Mile."

The actor's casket is set for public viewing from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday in Los Angeles at the Hall of Liberty at Forest Lawn Memorial Parks.

A private burial will be held on Monday. It is invitation only, a family spokesperson said.

Reach Cleveland Urban News.Com by telephone at 216-659-0473 and by email@ editor@clevelandurbannews.com

By Kathy Wray Coleman, Associate Publisher, Editor, Cleveland Urban News. Com and The Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog.Com

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina- With Obama and  Mitt Romney in a dead heat, First Lady Michelle Obama (pictured) took the stage at opening night Tuesday at  the Democratic National Convention and wooed America with her charm, wit, warmth, and oratory brilliance.

Her speech out -shined the mediocre one given last week at the Republican Convention by Ann Romney, who spent much of her speech making excuses for Mitt  Romney's billionaire status.

Dressed flawlessly in a sleeveless pink style designer dress, the first lady, whose approval ratings harbor at 70 percent, was articulate, given her background as an ivy league Princeton University law school graduate, and she made America's Black community proud.

She was down to the earth, and she said during her 35 minute speech that she loves her husband more and more each day, as a partner, a father, a family man, and as a scholar of a president who is not afraid to show his wife when he is  in deep thought in the oval office doing things like reading letters from the American people on issues impacting the country .

"Today, I love my husband even more than I did four years ago," said Michelle Obama.

By Kathy Wray Coleman, Associate Publisher, Editor, Cleveland Urban News. Com and The Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog.Com

CLEVELAND,Ohio- President Barack Obama has cancelled his previously scheduled visit to Cleveland, Oh. for the annual 11th Congressional District Caucus Labor Day Parade sponsored by U.S. Rep. Marcia L. Fudge, a Warrensville Hts Democrat and Ohio's only Black congressperson.

Instead, the president will make his planned stop in Toledo, Oh. and then head to Louisiana, where Republican Party Presidential Nominee Mitt Romney will be, to show his support to the state's residents around the aftermath of Hurricane Issac, which has been downgraded by weather experts to Tropical Storm Issac.

"The devastation caused by Hurricane Isaac and the suffering of Americans in its path has led President Obama to make a late change in his travel plans for Monday, September 3," said Fudge in a a press release on Friday to Cleveland Urban News. Com.  "While we looked forward to President Obama's presence and remarks in our district on Monday, we understand his decision to change course.  The 41st annual 11th Congressional District Community Caucus Parade and Festival will go on as planned and I look forward to seeing the people of Northeast Ohio come together to celebrate Labor Day."

The annual parade, started by retired U.S. Rep. Louis Stokes of Shaker Hts decades ago, kicks off at 10:00 am from E. 149th St. and Kinsman Rd in Cleveland and ends at Luke Easter Park where the picnic will begin with political speeches and entertainment from various sources, including youth drill teams such as the Lady D Drill Team.

Reach Cleveland Urban News.Com by telephone at 216-659-0473 and by email@ editor@clevelandurbannews.com