WASHINGTON (AP)—Pioneer filmmaker Oscar Micheaux was honored June 22 on a new U.S. postage stamp.

The 44-cent stamp is the latest in the agency’s Black Heritage stamp series. It was released at ceremonies in New York and is on sale nationwide.

NEW STAMP—This image provided by the U.S. Postal Service shows the postage stamp honoring Oscar Micheaux.

Micheaux was a director, screenwriter, producer and distributor who was involved in more than 40 films chronicling the experience of African-Americans.

“His films not only entertained, they left audiences with a sense of encouragement, hope and inspiration,” postal Vice President Delores Killette said in a statement.

DETROIT (AP)—A Jackson 5 exhibit is now on view at the Motown Historical Museum in Detroit, marking the one-year anniversary of Michael Jackson’s death.

Photographs, awards and costumes are all on display in the show, which opened June 29.

FAMOUS HAT AND GLOVE—A hat and sequined glove once belonging to Michael Jackson are displayed at the Motown Historical Museum at Hitsville U.S.A. in Detroit, June 21.

Museum chief curator Lina Stephens says the exhibit celebrates the life of Jackson and acknowledges the Jackson 5’s “contribution to the Motown story.” Jackson died June 25, 2009.

Stephens says the exhibit will be open through October. Museum summer hours are Mondays-Saturdays from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

(Online: http://www.motown­museum.com.)

Week of July 9-15

July 9

1863—Eight Black regiments play a major role as Union troops capture Port Hudson in Louisiana. They laid siege to the Confederate fortress since May 23. The victory, along with the July 4 capture of Vicksburg, Miss., gave U.S. forces control of the Mississippi River, cut the Confederate army in half and laid the foundation for the end of the Civil War. The Civil War would drag on for another two years but the Confederate troops fighting to maintain slavery were never able to recover from the loss of Port Hudson.

by Gregory Dale

(NNPA)—Amidst the chaos of recovery from BP’s runaway oil well in the Gulf of Mexico, a new face has surfaced; one which does not have a British accent but instead, more visibly reflects the culture that has been severely jeopardized by the unceasing catastrophe BP has been attempting to fix—and he is African-American.

NEW FACE—BP Director of Claims Darryl Willis, the new face on this crisis for the oil giant, talks with reporters in Bayou La Batre, Ala. on June 22.

Darryl Willis, vice president of resources for BP America, volunteered to step into the fray and will serve as the head of the company’s claims team, which collects and responds to claims of monetary damages in connection with the disaster. Willis, a native of Louisiana, is now the public face for BP and appears in a series of commercials for the company.