LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The charity anthem "We Are the World" has been rerecorded by 80 artists who came together in the same Hollywood studio where the original was cut 25 years ago...

BERLIN (AP) -- Esther Bejarano says music helped keep her alive as a Jewish prisoner in Auschwitz and in the years that followed.
Now, 65 years after the liberation of the Nazi death camp, the 85-year-old has teamed up with the hip-hop band Microphone Mafia to spread her anti-racism message to German youth.

"Precisely how the system of mass incarceration works to trap African-Americans in a virtual (and literal) cage can best be understood by viewing the system as a whole… The first stage is the roundup [when] vast numbers of people are swept into the criminal justice system by the police, who conduct drug operations primarily in poor communities of color… "

ATLANTA (AP) -- Over the years, the Grammys have served as a backdrop for heart-tugging comeback stories. If Charlie Wilson should win either one of the awards he's up for on Sunday, it may mark one of the more unusual -- a successful resurgence after a series of setbacks, including spending two years homeless...

Fresh off the phenomenal success of "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," which was the #2 movie at the box office in 2009 (behind "Avatar"), Tyrese is back with another apocalyptic sci-fi adventure. "Legion," however, is a horror flick with a rather novel, religious premise revolving around a struggle to survive the wrath of a vengeful God who has lost faith in humanity.

The national literary arts organization Youth Speaks, in partnership with The Seattle Public Library, will host weekly writing circles for writers ages 13 to 21 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursdays at The Seattle Public Library, Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave., Teen Center, Level 3.

When he was 19, Nasir "Nas" Jones began recording what would be one of the most important hip hop albums of all time. The 1994 "Illmatic" is a personal account of life in New York's Queensbridge housing project.

Chris 'Kazi' Rolle was born in the Bahamas where he was abandoned soon after birth by his mother who decided to start over on her own and set out for America. Understandably, Kazi grew up with a hole in his soul, and headed for New York City at the age of 14 to track her down.

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- Harry MacLean was a daily spectator in 2007 when federal prosecutors put part of Mississippi's troubled racial past on trial in a courtroom in downtown Jackson.

HOLT, Ala. (AP) -- Caroline Shines arrived home last week to find what she says ``is the best Christmas present I can think of.''
Her street off Crescent Ridge Road had a bright new sign designating it Johnny Shines Street, after her father, the late and great blues musician who lived in Holt for the last 20 years of his life before his death in 1992.