Maria Davis: AIDS Survivor Tells Her Story

In 1995, Maria Davis was a successful New York hip hop promoter (featured prominently on Jay-Z's first album 'Reasonable Doubt') when her world was turned upside down. An HIV test she had taken as part of an application for a life insurance policy came back positive. She had unknowingly contracted the disease from her soon-to-be husband, and three years later she was diagnosed with full-blown AIDS.

That same year, in 1998, Davis became an activist to help others learn about the dangers of HIV/AIDS. Davis represents a group that has been disproportionately affected by the AIDS epidemic in the U.S. and abroad.
According to the CDC, African-American and Hispanic women account for 80 percent of AIDS cases in the U.S., even though they represent less than a quarter of all American women. Nearly 70% of these women contracted the disease through heterosexual relations. Davis hopes to inspire others to find out their HIV status and learn safe-sex practices through her non-profit organization, Can't Be Silenced. In honor of World AIDS Day, for which Davis is a national spokesperson, she shared her story with Black Voices. Source

R.I.P Ted Rogers

Edward Samuel "Ted" Rogers, Jr., OC, BA, LL.B, D.Sc (born May 27, 1933 in Toronto, Ontario, died December 2, 2008, in Toronto) was the President and CEO of Rogers Communications Inc., and the richest person in Canada in terms of net worth. His father Edward S. Rogers, Sr. is regarded as the founder of the company, although the radio station that he founded is now owned by another Canadian company competitor Astral Media.

Educated at Upper Canada College, where he was a member of Seaton's House, Rogers graduated from Trinity College, at the University of Toronto, in 1956 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. While an undergrad, Rogers joined the Sigma Chi Fraternity. In 1979 he was named a Significant Sig - the 21st Canadian to be inducted. In 1960, while still a student at Osgoode Hall Law School of York University, he bought all the shares in local radio station (CHFI) that pioneered the use of FM (frequency modulation) at a time when only 5% of the Toronto households had FM receivers. By 1965, he was in the cable TV business; Rogers Communications was established in 1967 and has grown into one of Canada's largest media conglomerates.

Rogers had been the owner of the Toronto Blue Jays Major League Baseball team since September 1, 2000, when Rogers Communications Inc. purchased 80% of the baseball club with the Labatt Brewing Company Ltd. maintaining 20% interest and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce relinquishing its 10% share. Since the 2003 season, he now owns 100% of the team. Moreover, the Blue Jays' home ballpark, SkyDome, was renamed Rogers Centre after Rogers' firm purchased the stadium (including naming rights).
Rogers suffered from congestive heart failure and died on December 2, 2008, at his home in Toronto. Source

Happy Birthday Jennifer Hudson

Jennifer Hudson @ TIFF

Jennifer Kate Hudson (born September 12, 1981) is an American actress, singer and fashion model. She first gained notice as one of the finalists on the third season of the FOX television series American Idol. She is often credited with a five-octave vocal range. She went on to star as Effie White in the 2006 motion picture adaptation of the musical Dreamgirls for which she won numerous awards including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, and a SAG Award. Hudson cites Whitney Houston and Aretha Franklin as her biggest influences.

Sister Nancy: First original dancehall female DJ

Live Performance above. I remember dancing to this song ever since I was a lil girl.

Sister Nancy, aka Muma Nancy, real name Ophlin Russell-Myers, (born Ophlin Russell, 2 January 1962, Kingston, Jamaica) is a dancehall DJ and singer. She has been known to the world as the first original dancehall female DJ with her dominating voice for over three decades" on the dancehall scene. One of her most famous songs is "Bam Bam", labelled as a "well-known reggae anthem" by BBC and a "classic" by The Observer. Nancy was one of 15 siblings. Her brother Robert is better known as Brigadier Jerry, and by her mid-teens, she would occasionally perform on the Jahlove Music sound system that he worked with. In 1980, producer Winston Riley was the first to take her into the studio, resulting in her first single, "Papa Dean" for his Techniques label. Nancy went on to perform at Reggae Sunsplash, making her the first female deejay ever to perform there, and she is also the first female Jamaican deejay to tour internationally. She had further success with singles such as "One Two", "Money Can't Buy Me Love", "Transport Connection" and "Bam Bam". Her debut album, One Two was released in 1982. She went on to work with producer Henry "Junjo" Lawes, recording "A No Any Man Can Test Sister Nancy", "Bang Belly", and a collaboration with Yellowman, "Jah Mek Us Fe A Purpose". She continued to appear live, sometimes on Jahlove Music with her brother. The sound system toured internationally, with both Sister Nancy and Brigadier Jerry making their debut UK performances at the Brixton Town Hall, London in 1982. source

Katherine Dunham

Katherine Mary Dunham (June 22, 1909 – May 21, 2006) was an American dancer, choreographer, songwriter, author, educator and activist who was trained as an anthropologist. Dunham had one of the most successful dance careers in American and European theater of the 20th century and has been called the Matriarch and Queen Mother of Black Dance. read more

Harvard College appoints first black woman as dean

Last year, Harvard University welcomed the first female president in its history. In a few months, the university will mark another milestone: the installation of the first black female as dean of Harvard College.

In a statement Tuesday, the university announced the appointment of Evelynn Hammonds, Harvard’s senior vice provost for faculty development and diversity and a professor of the history of science and African-American studies, to the top post in Harvard College. The appointment comes just as Yale administrators are launching an effort to encourage more racial diversity within the upper ranks of the University’s administration.

“This is an exciting moment of change for the College, and Evelynn’s academic values and leadership qualities promise to serve our undergraduates well,” Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust, who last year became the first woman to be elevated to Harvard’s presidency after nearly four centuries of male rule, said in a statement. Continue reading

Charlotte E. Ray

Charlotte E. Ray (January 13, 1850 – January 4, 1911) was the first black woman lawyer. Ray was born in New York City where her father the Reverend Charles Bennett Ray was a prominent abolitionist. During her childhood she attended the Institution for the Education of Colored Youth in Washington, D.C. which was one of the few schools African American women could attend. In 1869 she was both a teacher and a student at Howard University, she studied law, specialising in commercial law, and graduated in 1872 and was the first woman to graduate from the Howard Law School.
Ray was admitted to the District of Columbia Bar in 1872. Soon after her admission to the bar, she was forced to give up her practice, and by 1879 had returned to New York where she worked as a teacher. After 1895 Ray seems to have been active in the National Association of Colored Women.
Charlotte was a well-known abolitionist. She attended at Howard University. She studied law, because she wanted to be a lawyer. In February 1872, she received her law degree from Howard University. She was the first black woman in the USA to attain that goal. She opened her own law practice. Then she closed it, because it was not going so well. In 1895 she became active in the National Women's Suffrage Association. In 1897 she moved to Woodside, Long Island where she died at age of 60 in 1911.Poet H. Cordelia Ray was her sister.

Debbie Allen

Born: January 16, 1950 Occupation: dancer
Debbie Allen was born in Houston, Texas, where her father, Andrew Allen, was a dentist and her mother, Vivian Ayers Allen, was a Pulitzer Prize-nominated writer. Her sister, Phylicia Rashad, became well known for her role as Claire Huxtable on the television series THE COSBY SHOW. As a child, Allen tried to take ballet classes at the Houston Foundation for Ballet, but she was rejected for reasons her mother thought were discriminatory. Allen began learning dance by studying privately with a former dancer from the Ballet Russes and later by moving with her family to Mexico City where she danced with the Ballet Nacional de Mexico. Allen reauditioned for the Houston Foundation for Ballet in 1964, and this time was admitted on a full scholarship and became the company's first black dancer. After high school, Allen hoped to attend North Carolina School of Arts, but when she was rejected she decided to pursue a B.A. at Howard University (1971) with a concentration in classical Greek literature, speech, and theater. During her college years, she continued to dance with students at the university and with choreographer Michael Malone's dance troupe. After graduating in 1971, Allen relocated to New York City where she would develop her talents as a dancer, actress, and singer in her appearances on Broadway, and eventually in television shows and movies. continue reading