The day that changed the life of millions

By Troy Muhammad

I can't say enough about the Historical Million Man March.Just know that October 16th 1995 I was one of 2 million MEN who life was changed for the better.The Anointed spirit of The true and living God was with us and I have not been the same man since.I thank Allah(God) and The Honorable Minister Farrakhan for this day and know that if it was not for this day;I and many of us would not be alive or enjoy the success that has been granted to me or us since The Million Man March.So let us all no matter what your religion,tribe or political views are salute this Historical and life changing day and SHAME on you if you don't.

On October 16, 1995, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan led over 2-million men in taking this pledge during the historic Million Man March in Washington, D.C.

I PLEDGE, that from this day forward I will strive to love my brother as I love myself. I, from this day forward, will strive to improve myself spiritually, morally, mentally, socially, politically and economically for the benefit of myself, my family and my people.

I PLEDGE, that I will strive to build businesses, build houses, build hospitals, build factories and enter into international trade for the good of myself, my family and my people.

I PLEDGE, that from this day forward I will never raise my hand with a knife or a gun to beat, cut, or shoot any member of my family or any human being except in self-defense.

I PLEDGE, from this day forward I will never abuse my wife by striking her, disrespecting her, for she is the mother of my children and the producer of my future.

I PLEDGE, that from this day forward I will never engage in the abuse of children, little boys or little girls for sexual gratification. For I will let them grow in peace to be strong men and women for the future of our people.

I WILL NEVER, again use the ‘B word' to describe any female. But particularly my own Black sister.

I PLEDGE, from this day forward that I will not poison my body with drugs or that which is destructive to my health and my well-being.

I PLEDGE, from this day forward I will support Black newspapers, Black radio, Black television. I will support Black artists who clean up their acts to show respect for themselves and respect for their people and respect for the ears of the human family.

I will do all of this so help me God.

Taqi aka Nahshon an upcoming hip hop violinist

Taqi is an native of Mobile Alabama and is a brilliant student in many different areas such as Fencing,martial artist,dancing and also becoming a supreme master in the rim of classical hip hop violin.Below is a sample of his unique brilliance.
Playing black eyed peas boom boom pow at the House of Dereon.contact Nahshoh at E-mail nahshonmoney@hotmail.com

Civil rights activist Dorothy Height passes at 98

Dorothy Height, a leading civil rights pioneer of the 1960s, died Tuesday at age 98, Howard University Hospital confirmed.

Height died at 3:41 a.m., said hospital spokesman Ron Harris. No cause of death was given.

Height, who had been chair and president emerita of the National Council of Negro Women, worked in the 1960s alongside civil rights pioneers, including the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., future U.S. Rep. John Lewis and A. Philip Randolph. She was on the platform when King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech at the 1963 March on Washington.

President Obama called her the "godmother" of the movement, noting she "served as the only woman at the highest level of the civil rights movement -- witnessing every march and milestone along the way."

"And even in the final weeks of her life -- a time when anyone else would have enjoyed their well-earned rest, Dr. Height continued her fight to make our nation a more open and inclusive place for people of every race, gender, background and faith."

Friend and former U.S. Labor Secretary Alexis M. Herman said she was "deeply saddened" by Height's death.

"She was a dynamic woman with a resilient spirit, who was a role model for women and men of all faiths, races and perspectives," Herman said. "For her, it wasn't about the many years of her life, but what she did with them."

Height's years of service span from Roosevelt to the Obama administration, the council said in a statement announcing her death and listing the highlights of her career.

Height was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994 by President Clinton and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2004. She was among a handful of key African-American leaders to meet with Obama at the White House recently for a summit on race and the economy.

Her name is synonymous with the National Council of Negro Women, a group she led from 1957 to 1988, when she became the group's chair and president emerita. She was also a key figure in the YWCA beginning in the 1930s.

Height was born in Richmond, Virginia, and grew up in Rankin, Pennsylvania. Her civil rights work began in 1933 when she became a leader of the United Christian Youth Movement of North America. Among the issues she tackled were fighting to stop lynchings and working to desegregate the armed forces.

She experienced discrimination and wrote in her memoir about being turned down for admittance to Barnard College in New York.

"Although I had been accepted, they could not admit me," she wrote in "Open Wide the Freedom Gates."

"It took me a while to realize that their decision was a racial matter: Barnard had a quota of two Negro students per year, and two others had already taken the spots."

At its 1980 commencement ceremonies, Barnard awarded Height its highest honor, the Barnard Medal of Distinction.

Under Height's leadership, the National Council of Negro Women dealt with the "unmet needs of women and their families by combating hunger and establishing decent housing and home ownership programs through the federal government for low-income families."

The organization spearheaded voter registration drives and started "Wednesdays in Mississippi" in which female interracial groups helped at Freedom Schools, institutions meant to empower African-Americans and address inequalities in how the races were educated.

Last month, a flurry of rumors that Height had died appeared on the internet, particularly on the social networking site Twitter, where her name was a trending topic. Wikipedia also briefly reported Height's death at that time.

White Politician, Black Activist Nearly Come To Blows On South African TV (VIDEO)

Senegal offers land to Haitians who want to come

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) -- Senegal is offering free land to Haitians wishing to 'return to their origins' following this week's devastating earthquake, which has destroyed the capital and buried thousands of people beneath rubble.

Senegal's octogenarian President Abdoulaye Wade told a meeting of his advisers that Haitians are the sons and daughters of Africa, because the country was founded by slaves, including some believed to have come from Senegal.

"The president is offering voluntary repatriation to any Haitian that wants to return to their origin," said Wade's spokesman Mamadou Bemba Ndiaye late Saturday following the president's announcement.

"Senegal is ready to offer them parcels of land -- even an entire region. It all depends on how many Haitians come. If it's just a few individuals, then we will likely offer them housing or small pieces of land. If they come en masse we are ready to give them a region," he said.

He stressed that Wade had insisted that if a region is handed over it should be in a fertile area -- not in the country's parched deserts.

Senegal, a nation of 14 million roughly the size of South Dakota, is considered one of the most stable and developed in the sub-region. Still nearly half of working-age adults are unemployed and the country has been burdened by high food prices, frequent blackouts and spiraling energy costs.

Many have criticized Wade for being a dreamer, proposing lofty projects that do little to alleviate poverty or address endemic corruption. Others see him as a statesman who dares to have a vision for Africa.

Stage Play''Resurrection of the Sultan"addresses drug epidemic

Open Eyes Productions inc.produced/directed A powerful stage play based on a true story about one man's struggle to overcome drug addiction through the power of prayer and spiritual transformation.Bro Sultan X gives an explosive performance in this heart touching and thought provoking stage play.
full length DVD available at www.openeyesprod.com./services

Find more videos like this on Ministry of Arts and Culture

President Obama about shooting at Fort Hood Amy Base

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

According to MSNBC on November 5:

Military officials on Thursday called the mass shooting at a Texas Army base an "isolated and tragic case" and said they were unaware of increased security measures at other military bases.

"This is an isolated and tragic case and we're obviously in the process of obtaining more information as the events unfold," said Lt. Col. Eric Butterbaugh, spokesman from the Department of Defense.

Twelve people were killed and at least 31 others were injured when a soldier opened fire at the Fort Hood Army base in Texas, military officials said. One gunman wounded and taken into custody, Lt. Gen. Robert W. Cone, commanding general of the Army’s III Corps, told reporters.

Read the full report at: Military calls Fort Hood shooting ‘isolated’ case

Precious:The Movie

The movie ‘Precious’, which has been based on the novel named ‘Push’ by Sapphire, is scheduled to hit the theaters today. The drama film has been much anticipated after winning a number of awards including the ‘Audience Award’ at the Sundance Film Festival. The film had its premiere at this festival where it also won the ‘Grand Jury Prize’ for the Best Drama and the ‘Special Jury Prize’ was received by the actress Mo’nique for the role of Supporting Actress. The movie’s title had been changed to ‘Precious’ in January, so that there would be no confusion with the earlier action movie which is also called ‘Push’.

The movie has been rated ‘R’ because it contains mature matter like sexual assault and child abuse along, with pervasive language. The film had also been nominated for the 2008 Golden Trailer Award and is also anticipated to be nominated for the Academy awards, for the best picture.

The main plot of the movie revolves around ‘Precious’, who is played by Gabourey Sidibe. Precious is an illiterate teenager who is also obese and lives with her dysfunctional family in Harlem. “Precious” has a very bad relation with her mother and has been impregnated by her father two times. Then comes the turning point in her life, when she is invited to join a school, which changes her life.
The movie also stars Mariah Carey (Social worker-Mrs Weiss), Paula Patton, (Precious’s teacher- Ms. Rain), Lenny Kravitz (John the nurse), Gabourey Sidibe (Clareece “Precious” Jones), Mo’nique (Mary Jones), Sherri Shepherd (Cornrows), Stephanie Andujar (Rita), Nealla Gordon (Mrs. Lichtenstein) and Amina Robinson ( Jermaine Hicks).

Method Man arrested on $33K tax charge

Rapper and actor Clifford Smith, better known to fans as Method Man, was arrested Monday and faces charges of failing to pay taxes, the district attorney in Richmond County, New York, said.

Clifford Smith, better known as Method Man, failed to file tax returns and owes $33,000, authorities say.
Smith, 38, owes the state nearly $33,000 for New York State income tax returns that he did not file between 2004 and 2007, district attorney Daniel Donovan Jr. said in a statement.

The Grammy-winning rapper, an original member of the Wu-Tang Clan, was arrested at his home on Staten Island. He faces a felony charge of repeated failure to file taxes and a misdemeanor charge of failure to pay tax.

The felony carries a sentence of up to four years in prison.

Smith was to appear at an arraignment in Staten Island Criminal Court on Monday.

Smith's attorney Peter Frankel was not immediately available to comment

China Celebrates 60 Years of Independent Rule

BEIJING — China’s leaders marked their nation’s 60th anniversary on Thursday with a precision display of military bravado that included, improbably, a female militia unit toting submachine guns and attired in red miniskirts and white jackboots, and a fleet of floats with representations of a giant fish and Mount Everest.
China’s Next Stage
Can China spread the wealth and become a consumer society?
On Day for China Pride, Little Interest in Ideology (October 1, 2009)
China Is Wordless on Traumas of Communists’ Rise (October 2, 2009) The celebration of the founding of the People’s Republic of China was immense, powerful and flawless, down to the crystalline skies that, just a day earlier, had been laden with smog.

In all that, it was a fitting analogy for how China’s Communist Party leaders wanted their citizens and the world to regard them — and, perhaps, how they might be feeling themselves these days. The last such parade, in 1999, was of interest mainly to foreign military analysts and China hands. This time, the world’s news outlets reported raptly on the significance of every detail, and China’s state-run television network streamed video coverage over the Internet, in English and other languages, to viewers worldwide.

Beyond that, however, the Chinese made few concessions to their global audience. The 60th-anniversary celebration was slightly kitschy and indisputably retro, a carbon copy of the prior once-a-decade celebrations.

“On one level, they are naturally aware of the international audience, but in the end this is a parade and show for Chinese leaders and the people of China,” Geremie R. Barmé, professor of Chinese history at the Australian National University, said in an interview. “It has always been such a show. It is a display of China’s might and power. When it comes to this kind of parade, international perceptions are just not that important.”

A confident President Hu Jintao, clad in a high-collar Mao-style jacket, told the invited guests — the general public was not allowed to attend the parade — that “infinitely bright prospects” lay ahead for the world’s most populous nation.

“Today, a socialist China geared to modernization, the world and the future has stood rock-firm in the east of the world,” Mr. Hu said in a brief speech speckled with boilerplate references to Chinese-style socialism. The Chinese people, he said, “cannot be prouder of the development and progress of our great motherland.”

Mr. Hu’s review of his troops — made standing in the open sunroof of a Chinese-made 12-cylinder Red Flag limousine — echoed the reviews conducted by his predecessors in decades past. Television images showed Mr. Hu waving stiffly and calling out “Greetings, comrades!” through four large microphones attached to the limousine’s roof. Following tradition, the troops replied in unison, “Serve the people!”

The vast display of military power — according to the state-run Xinhua news agency, 52 weapons systems; 151 warplane flyovers; 12 intercontinental-range missiles; and a new missile, the Dongfeng 21-C, that one day could be used to counter American aircraft carriers — received by far the most attention. While China’s military remains well behind that of many developed nations in sophistication and firepower, analysts said, its progress since the last such parade in 1999 was impressive.

Analysts said, however, that there was little or nothing unknown in the procession of hardware.

And some of the most notable changes did not involve the military at all, but the People’s Armed Police, a paramilitary force that was a bit player in the past. On Thursday, the police had specially outfitted armored personnel carriers, a signal of their growing stature. The group is the government’s main internal security force and played crucial roles in suppressing ethnic disturbances in the Xinjiang region in July and in combating riots in Tibet in March 2008. Its performance in Tibet was widely criticized, and the government has since taken steps to modernize the force and train it to military standards.

To foreigners, the show of firepower and Mr. Hu’s bromide-filled speech may have evoked memories of the cold war and the former Soviet Union’s performances at May Day ceremonies. But in China, the National Day ceremony is directed mainly at the Chinese people, and particularly at the 75-million-member Communist Party, which not only runs the government but also has direct control of the armed forces.

The military journal People’s Liberation Army News said in February that the parade “is a comprehensive display of the party’s ability to rule.” And the theme of this parade, emphasized in weeks of newspaper articles and television broadcasts, is that the Communist Party has made China strong, increasingly prosperous and respected in the world — and that it is in firm control.

Those points were underscored in the procession of floats that followed the military display in the parade, with each float highlighting a Chinese province’s charms or one of China’s accomplishments. One float carrying fish and a sheaf of wheat proclaimed China’s ability to feed itself; another, holding a huge space capsule, celebrated China’s space program; another depicted the bullet trains that are beginning to link a few large cities.

Each of four floats bore a huge portrait of a Chinese leader with a trademark slogan: Mao (“The Chinese people have stood up”); Deng Xiaoping (“Pushing reform and opening up”); former President Jiang Zemin (“Adhering to the important thoughts of the Three Represents”); and the current president, Mr. Hu (“Implementing scientific outlook on development”).

BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Top Chinese state and military leader Hu Jintao on Thursday inspected the country's defense forces which will also stage a massive parade in Beijing in celebration of the 60th founding anniversary of New China.

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Backgrounder: Arms of services in military parade

A black open-roof Red Flag limousine carried Hu, state president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, eastward along Chang'an Avenue from the iconic Tian'anmen Square shortly after the celebration started at 10 a.m..

Tens of thousands of soldiers and militia, together with ranks of camouflaged tanks and missiles, stood along the newly widened boulevard and waited to be inspected. The whole procession stretches some three kilometers.


Fang Fenghui (L), Beijing Military Zone commander and military parade commander, reports to Hu Jintao (R), general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, inviting him to inspect troops of the Chinese People's Liberation Army to take part in a military parade for celebration of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, in central Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 1, 2009. (Xinhua Photo)
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"Greetings, comrades!" Hu, wearing a high-collared Mao suit, saluted troops through a microphone.

"Greetings, leader!" Loudly replied the soldiers in brand new uniforms.

Hu then said "Comrades, you are working hard!" And the troops replied: "We serve the people!"

Hu's inspection of the troops, the first in the past decade, preluded a full-dress National Day military parade involving about8,000 military personnel.

Fourteen phalanxes on feet are composed of the army, navy, air force and the Second Artillery Force of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the People's Armed Police Force and reserved force.

PLA's young and mysterious Special Forces made their debut for the inspection.

A total of 30 phalanxes in wheeled transport displayed more than 50 types of new weapon systems manufactured by China on its own, including the newest model of intercontinental nuclear-capable ballistic missiles.

Other cutting-edge weaponry included China's new generation of tanks, sophisticated radar, airborne early warning and control aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles and satellite communication devices. All the weapons are made in China.

More than 150 jet-fighters, bombers, helicopters and other aircraft in 12 echelons will fly over the square, packed with some200,000 people.

The parade, the 14th since the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, is set to showcase China's newest weaponry and enhanced defense strength.

A black open-roof limousine carrying Chinese President Hu Jintao drove eastward along Chang'an Avenue in central Beijing amid the army song of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA).
China's Hu appears at Tian'anmen Rostrum
President Hu Jintao, former President Jiang Zemin and other top leaders and celebrities showed up at the Tian'anmen Rostrum. Full

Beating Death Of Derrion Albert, 16, Caught On Video

Four teenagers have been charged with first-degree murder in Derrion Albert's beating death.
Silvanus Shannon, 19, Eugene Riley, 18, and Eric Carson, 16, all of Chicago, were charged as adults ordered held without bond. Eugene Bailey, 18, was also charged with first-degree murder and will appear in court Tuesday.

Prosecutors declared Albert an "innocent bystander" in the fight that led to his death.
video of the brawl.

Chicago police are still investigating the gang fight that erupted Thursday in Roseland that resulted in the death of 16-year-old Fenger High School student Derrion Albert.

Albert was killed in a melee near the school that police believe is a continuation of ongoing tensions between Fenger students that are members of rival gangs.

An amateur video of the brawl shows dozens of people punching, kicking and swinging wooden boards in the street. Albert was struck by blows from one of those boards, Fox Chicago reports, and the video obtained by Fox shows a person getting hit with a board and then stomped on after falling to the ground.

As people rush to help the injured person, a voice can be heard on the video yelling, "Derrion, get up!"

Albert's mom said witnesses told her that her son "trying to help another student and kind of got mixed in with the crowd of the fight and he was hit."

A memorial and march planned for Sunday was rescheduled for Monday at 1 p.m., the Tribune reports.

UPDATE: Police are questioning four people in connection with Albert's death, Fox Chicago reported late Sunday night.

The student who hit Albert with a board is in custody, Fox reports, as police try to figure out why Albert, an honor student whom family and friends said was not involved with a gang, was killed.

Meanwhile, police beefed up security around Fenger Monday as students returned to school the week after the melee that led to Albert's death.

"We want to provide reassurance to the public that there's a police presence and they can feel safe in the neighborhood and kids can feel safe at school," the Tribune quoted Morgan Park District Commander Michael Kuemmeth as saying.

CHICAGO - Cell phone footage showing a group of teens viciously kicking and striking a 16-year-old honors student with splintered railroad ties has ramped up pressure on Chicago officials to address chronic violence that has led to dozens of deaths of city teens each year.

The graphic video of the afternoon melee emerged on local news stations over the weekend, showing the fatal beating of Derrion Albert, a sophomore honor roll student at Christian Fenger Academy High School. His death was the latest addition to a rising toll: More than 30 students were killed last school year, and the city could exceed that number this year.

Prosecutors charged four teenagers Monday with fatally beating Albert, who was walking to a bus stop when he got caught up in the mob street fighting, authorities said.

The violence stemmed from a shooting early Thursday morning involving two groups of students from different neighborhoods, said Tandra Simonton, a spokeswoman for the Cook County prosecutor's office. When school ended, members of the groups began fighting near the Agape Community Center.

During the attack, captured in part on a bystander's cell phone video, Albert is struck on the head by one of several young men wielding wooden planks. After he falls to the ground and appears to try to get up, he is struck again and then kicked. Simonton said Albert was a bystander and not part of either group.

Prosecutors charged Silvonus Shannon, 19, Eugene Riley, 18, Eric Carson, 16, and Eugene Bailey, 18, with first-degree murder, Simonton said.

Shannon, Riley and Carson were ordered held without bond Monday. The Cook County Public Defender's Office, which represented the three teenagers in court, had no immediate comment. Bailey was due in bond court Tuesday, Simonton said.

Chicago police said they were looking for at least three more suspects, but would not discuss a possible motive for the attack.

Simonton said Albert was knocked unconscious when Carson struck him in the head with a board and a second person punched him in the face. Albert regained consciousness and was trying to get up when he was attacked a second time by five people, struck in the head with a board by Riley and stomped in the head by Shannon, Simonton said.

Desiyan Bacon, Bailey's aunt, said her nephew didn't have anything to do with the beating and was a friend of the victim.

"They need to stop the crime, but when they do it, they need to get the right person," Bacon said.

Fenger students said Albert's death intensified tensions at the school, with arguments about him breaking out in hallways all day Monday. Several blocks away, a memorial erected on the spot where he was beaten was burned down. Police also increased patrols before and after school and in the neighborhood.

"They're still trying to retaliate," said sophomore Toni Gardner, 15. She did not elaborate.

For Chicago, a sharp rise in violent student deaths during the past three school years -- most from shootings off school property -- have been a tragedy and an embarrassment.

Before 2006, an average of 10-15 students were fatally shot each year. That climbed to 24 fatal shootings in the 2006-07 school year, 23 deaths and 211 shootings in the 2007-08 school year and 34 deaths and 290 shootings last school year.

At a Monday vigil at the school, some community members said the solution lies with parents.

"It is our problem. We have to take control of our children," said Dawn Allen, who attended the vigil where a group of residents tried to force their way into the school before being turned back by police.

This month, the city announced a $30 million project that targets 1,200 high school pupils identified as most at risk to become victims of gun violence, giving them full-time mentors and part-time jobs to keep them off the streets. Some money also will pay for more security guards and to provide safe passage for students forced to travel through areas with active street gangs.

Albert's family attended a news conference Monday with school district leaders and police, but did not speak. They wore T-shirts with a picture of him in a cap and gown, with the words, "Gone too soon, too young."

But Annette Holt, mother of Blair Holt, a Chicago Public Schools student who was shot on a city bus two years ago, said Albert represented "another promising future, just snuffed out because of violence."

"Someone said he (Derrion) was in the wrong place at the wrong time," she said. "No, he wasn't. He was in the right place. He was coming from school."

Strong Indonesia quake kills hundreds,traps more

PADANG, Indonesia – A powerful earthquake that struck western Indonesia trapped thousands of people under collapsed buildings — including hospitals, a hotel and a classroom, officials said. At least 200 bodies were found in one coastal city and the toll was expected to be far higher.

The temblor Wednesday started fires, severed roads and cut off power and communications to Padang, a coastal city of 900,000 on Sumatra island. Thousands fled in panic, fearing a tsunami. It was felt hundreds of miles (kilometers) away in Malaysia and Singapore, causing buildings there to sway.

The undersea quake of 7.6 magnitude was followed by a powerful, shallow inland earthquake on Thursday morning with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It hit about 150 miles (240 kilometers) south of Padang at a depth of just under 20 miles (24 kilometers).

Shallow, inland earthquakes generally are more destructive. There were reports that the second quake badly damaged dozens of additional buildings.

In Padang, the capital of West Sumatra province, the shaking was so intense from Wednesday's temblor that people crouched or sat on the street to avoid falling. Children screamed as an exodus of thousands of frantic residents fled the coast in cars and motorbikes, honking horns.

At least 500 buildings in Padang collapsed or were badly damaged, said Disaster Management Agency spokesman Priyadi Kardono, adding that 200 bodies had been pulled from the rubble there. The extent of damage in surrounding areas was still unclear due to poor communications. Indonesia, a poor, sprawling nation with limited resources, was cobbling together an emergency aid response, and the government was preparing for the possibility of thousands of deaths.

Padang's mayor appealed for assistance on Indonesian radio station el-Shinta.

"We are overwhelmed with victims and ... lack of clean water, electricity and telecommunications," Mayor Fauzi Bahar said. "We really need help. We call on people to come to Padang to evacuate bodies and help the injured."

Hundreds of people were trapped under collapsed buildings in Padang alone, including a four-star hotel, he said. Other collapsed or seriously damaged buildings included hospitals, mosques, a school and a mall.

"I was studying math with my friends when suddenly a powerful earthquake destroyed everything around me," an unidentified boy told the TVOne broadcaster. He escaped out of the top floor just as the three-story structure, used for after-school classes, crumpled.

TVOne footage showed heavy equipment breaking through layers of cement in search of more than 30 children it said were missing and feared dead.

Thousands were believed trapped throughout the province, said Rustam Pakaya, head of the Health Ministry's crisis center.

Search and rescue teams were working in heavy rain when the second strong quake struck, causing widespread panic and badly damaging 30 houses in Jambi, another Sumatran town. It was not yet clear if there were injuries, said Jambi Mayor Hasfiah, who uses only one name, like many Indonesians. Frantic parents were seen rushing to local schools in search of their children.

"This is a high-scale disaster," Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari told Metro TV, referring to the Wednesday quake.

The first quake struck just off the coast of Padang, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. It occurred a day after a killer tsunami hit islands in the South Pacific and was along the same fault line that spawned the 2004 Asian tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen nations.

A tsunami warning was issued Wednesday for countries along the Indian Ocean, but was lifted after about an hour; there were no reports of giant waves.

The shaking in Padang felled trees and crushed cars. A foot could be seen sticking out from one pile of rubble. At daybreak, residents used their bare hands to search for survivors, pulling at the wreckage and tossing it away piece by piece.

"People ran to high ground," said Kasmiati, who lives on the coast near the quake's epicenter. "I was outside, so I am safe, but my children at home were injured," she said before her cell phone went dead.

The loss of telephone service deepened the worries of those outside the stricken area.

"I want to know what happened to my sister and her husband," said Fitra Jaya, who owns a house in downtown Padang and was in Jakarta when the quake hit. "I tried to call my family there, but I could not reach anyone at all."

Hospitals struggled to treat the injured as their relatives hovered nearby.

Indonesia's government announced $10 million in emergency response aid and medical teams and military planes were being dispatched to set up field hospitals and distribute tents, medicine and food rations.

Local television reported more than two dozen landslides in the province. Some blocked roads, causing miles-long traffic jams of cars and trucks.

On Tuesday, a powerful earthquake off the South Pacific islands of Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga — thousands of miles (kilometers) from Indonesia — spawned tsunami that killed at least 120 people. Experts said the seismic events were not related.

___

Associated Press writers Ali Kotarumalos and Niniek Karmini contributed to this report.

Obama addresses black caucus on health care

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama on Saturday resumed his push to overhaul the health care system, telling a Congressional Black Caucus conference that there comes a time when "the cup of endurance runs over."

"We have been waiting for health reform since the days of Teddy Roosevelt. We've been waiting since the days of Harry Truman," he said in remarks at the caucus foundation's annual dinner. "We've been waiting since Johnson and Nixon and Clinton."

"We cannot wait any longer," Obama said.

Obama spent the past week largely focused on global and economic issues in meetings with world leaders in New York and Pittsburgh.

At the G-20 economic summit that wrapped up Friday in Pennsylvania, Obama told a story about an unnamed foreign leader who privately told the president he didn't understand the at-times contentious debate over changing the health care system.

"He says, 'We don't understand it. You're trying to make sure everybody has health care and they're putting a Hitler mustache on you. That doesn't make sense to me,'" Obama said, quoting the world leader he declined to identify.

The reference to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler was to signs some people have waved outside of often testy town hall meetings around the country this summer where lawmakers discussed Obama's health care plan.

In the speech, Obama described his plan as one that would not require people with coverage to change anything but would make health insurance affordable for the millions of people who don't have any. Republicans dispute those claims.

The Senate Finance Committee is in the process of amending a health care bill introduced by Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont.

Before becoming president, Obama was the only senator in the all-Democratic caucus, which now has 42 members. He wasn't particularly active in the group and isn't especially close to many of its members.

Animosity toward the president and his policies has bubbled up in recent weeks, most notably with Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., shouting "You lie!" at Obama during the president's recent health care speech to Congress.

Democrats from former President Jimmy Carter on down have blamed the increasingly harsh criticism of Obama on racism.

Obama says it's not racism but an intense debate over the proper role of government.

Before he began to speak, Obama walked to a podium facing the audience from the right side of the stage before he was directed to another one — the one affixed with the presidential seal — on stage left.

"They don't want me to be on the right," he joked. "This is the CBC