AT&T Presents: Listen 2 Learn! Deborrah Cooper

When Deborrah "Ms. HeartBeat" Cooper penned a piece titled How the Black Church Keeps African American Women Single and Lonely, she never dreamed CNN would come calling for comment.But the network did just that, prompting the Oakland, Calif.-based blogger to expand on the issue on her BlogTalkRadio show, Date Smarter, Not Harder. "Churches are largely supported by women. If you go up in the congregation, that's who's sittin' in the pews, black women," she said. "Y'all must have some money, because I'm lookin' at some of these preachers. Why is it that Juanita Bynum and her husband had a wedding that cost $1.2 million? Why is it that everybody who was in her wedding party—the women got diamond tennis bracelets for presents. Is that really necessary for someone just to get married ?  What sort of benefits could have been provided for kids in that neighborhood that that church supports? What kind of things could have been provided for the single mom to get up a little on her education so she could get a better job?"