In the past few months, presidential hopeful Barack Obama has been a beacon of hope who has shined his light upon the nation. His hope has crossed the barriers of race and ethnicity and has given us something to talk about.

In the spirit of hope, what black leaders of the past and present do you believe have incited us to have hope for the future? Martin Luther King, Jr is the first leader that comes to mind, but I know there are more. Your thoughts?

One of my favroite person is Martin L. King and Condanica Rice Is a good person!! She would have made a good Presedent for the U.S. If she would have run I would have voted for her

My inspiration has always been Dr. King. He is just such a beautiful and loving soul. Eventhough he was gone before I was even born, there is just something so wonderful about him that has always drawn me to him. Even now just thinking of him makes me so emotional that I just want to cry for some reason. I think it's because I can sense the great love he had in his heart, it shows in his face and expression.... And not many people have had that effect on me in my life. Just looking at his pictures I know in my heart that he was a true angel. So without a doubt Martin Luther King is mine. :o)

Martin Luther King, Jr. Sorry to sound like a parrot! But his words have lifted me up many times when I felt hopeless and resigned. I posted a video to my homepage called Remember Martin Luther King Jr. I found it very powerful and moving. It has film clips of the old civil rights marches, and gave me a much clearer sense of what MLK's work was really about. Also, how incredibly courageous all the unnamed and unglorified people were who marched with him.

If you want to see it, click on my name, and then scroll down to My Videos on my homepage.

I've been intriqued to know more about Sojourner Truth. The link doesn't work; can you repost it? Thankls