Editor's Pick: May's Top 5 African American Auto Stories That Flew Under the Radar

Chrysler pays back government bailout loan early, again. Doesn't everyone wish they had a relative like Chrysler? Where are the critics that wanted Chrysler to go under at the height of the recession? Yes, everybody needs a helping hand -- even the car industry. Once again Chrysler has proven that it really does have nine lives while at the same time President Obama puts another feather in his cap. The auto industry helped to create many African American millionaires and was the root of the African American middle class.  And for those black pundits criticizing the Obama administration for not doing enough for the community, what would have happened had Obama not funded the auto industry? How many minority factory workers, suppliers and dealership employees would have been steered to the unemployment lines and forced into foreclosure?

                                    

Yes, the seats in your car could not only have the imprints of an African American, but also be built by Ronald E. Hall Sr. company, Bridgewater Interiors. Hall's business was named Black Enterprise Magazine's Industrial/Service Company of the Year last week. Hall's company pulled-in over $1.6 billion in revenue in 2010, up from $1.1 billion in 2009. By hitting the $1.6 billion mark, this makes Bridgewater Interiors the second-largest African American company in the world and one of four companies to top the billion mark last year. 



Robert Johnson, one of the richest African Americans in the country, may be out of the basketball game, but he continues to reign supreme -- as the number one new-vehicle dealer in the country -- according to Black Enterprise Magazine. Johnson is on track to become the second African American-owned dealer to crack the $1 billion mark. Last year his stores pulled in $893 million in revenue. This is up from the $641 million he raked in for 2009 at a time when many dealerships folded. 

seat.   Jenell Ross, a graduate of Emory University and the CEO of the family-owned dealership, Bob Ross Automotive, is Black Enterprise Magazine's Auto Dealer of the Year. Ross' father passed away in 1997 and her mother died suddenly last year.  Ross' family became the first African American Mercedes-Benz dealer in the country, before it was even fashionable for automakers to award dealerships to women and minorities. Ross' daughter, who is only 37, took over last year after her mother suddenly passed, managed to increase sales by 10 percent. Ross is a testament to the second-generation of African Americans being able to successfully run the family business and remain in the driver's

Retired Insurance Executive Candidly Reveals How His Industry Is Blocking Obama's Health Care Reform

If you're like most of us, you're probably confused over the public debate or debacle over revising our health care system. Fortunately, we've finally uncovered the truth behind what's really controlling the debate. As we've learned, if you follow the money trail, you'll find out why a number of our politicians are against health care reform. Many of our politicians are being paid off by the health insurance industry and they aren't looking out for the best interest of the American public who voted them in office.

The health insurance industry is refusing to give up of their healthy profit margins. Moreover, they're lining the pockets of many politicians, who have premium care insurance plans being funded by the American taxpayer. Since the subject of health care reform is one of the contributing factors to a mirage of problems with the domestic auto industry, this is why we felt compelled to cover this issue. Furthermore, we wanted to bring some balance to the latest discussion of health care reform, since many of the major networks and cable news shows have done an inadequate job of conveying to the American public the real issue at hand.

As we cited earlier, health care was one of the major factors why the American automakers cost per unit were higher than the imports. For generations, the American automakers had contractually agreed with the UAW (United Auto Workers) to cover the health care costs of many of their retirees and families, also known as legacy cost. This was a cost many of the imports didn't have to bear. Conversely, now that the domestic auto industry is somewhat dependent on the American government, they have been able to level the playing field after the post-bankruptcy restructuring, shifting a larger share of the health care insurance expense to its employees and retirees. Unfortunately, this measure really doesn't resolve the issue with our broken health care system.

With that being said, in his first extended television interview since leaving the health insurance industry, Wendell Potter tells PBS host Bill Moyers why he left his successful career as the head of Public Relations for CIGNA, one of the nation's largest insurers, and decided to speak out against the industry. "I didn't intend to [speak out], until it became really clear to me that the industry is resorting to the same tactics they've used over the years, and particularly back in the early '90s, when they were leading the effort to kill the Clinton plan," says Porter. To view the one-on-one interview with the former health insurance industry executive, click here.

After watching this interview or reading the transcript, you should feel compelled to contact Congress, who have premium care health care plans paid for by the American tax payers, to let them know if they don't come up with a public option, which is suitable to the American public, heads will roll during the next election cycle. The public option will allow Americans to have the choice of enrolling in a public plan similar to Medicare, which is also managed by the government, rather than private insurance, which is currently not suitable and/or out of reach of an estimated 30 million uninsured Americans. And this figure doesn't include those who are underinsured.