Beyhive, pat yourselves on the back. Thanks to your unwavering support of Queen Bey, according to MTV News, at the end of the Mrs. Carter Tour Beyoncé will be highest paid Black musician of all time.
According to estimates, the Mrs. Carter tour is expected to make well over $200 million which would make it Beyonce’s most successful tour ever and lead to her being crowned the highest paid Black musician of all time. This is on top of the Mrs. Carter tour already taking the honor of the highest-grossing concert by a female artist in 2013.
As MTV news points out, this feat would be an especially big one for Bey considering she’s the director and executive producer of the tour, via her production company, Parkwood Entertainment. That same company is also responsible for creating her self-titled visual album and her 2013 HBO documentary Life Is But A Dream.
The Mrs. Carter tour wraps March 27 in Portugal — unless Bey decides to extend it again — so it won’t be long before we see if she makes her mark.
See more at: http://madamenoire.com/402663/beyonce-highest-paid-black-musician-time-end-mrs-carter-tour/#sthash.KjVKdH5U.dpuf
Posts published in “African-American Firsts”
Denise Nappier is the first African American woman elected to serve as a state treasurer in the United States and the first African American woman elected to a statewide office in Connecticut. Elected in 1998 and re-elected in 2002, 2006, and 2010, Nappier is also the only woman to be elected treasurer in Connecticut history. Nappier oversees $52 billion in state funds, including the $25.9 billion Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds and a $19 billion debt portfolio.
Read more at: Connecticut Treasurer Denise Nappier Honored by Black Enterprise.
Elizabeth “Bessie” Coleman was an American civil aviator. She was the first female pilot of African American descent and the first person of African-American descent to hold an international pilot license. Coleman was born in Atlanta,Texas, the tenth of thirteen children to sharecroppers George, who was part Cherokee, and Susan Coleman.
In 1915, at the age of 23, she moved to Chicago, Illinois, where she lived with her brothers and she worked at the White Sox Barber Shop as a manicurist, where she heard stories from pilots returning home from World War I about flying during the war. She could not gain admission to American flight schools because she was black and a woman. No black U.S. aviator would train her either. Robert S. Abbott, founder and publisher of the Chicago Defender, encouraged her to study abroad.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wckEiKzCBqc&w=560&h=315]
Coleman raised money, studied French, and then traveled to Paris on November 20, 1920. She learned to fly in a Nieuport Type 82 biplane, with “a steering system that consisted of a vertical stick the thickness of a baseball bat in front of the pilot and a rudder bar under the pilot’s feet.” On June 15, 1921, Coleman became not only the first African-American woman to earn an international aviation license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, and the first American of any gender or ethnicity to do so, but the first African-American woman to earn an aviation pilot’s license. Determined to polish her skills, Coleman spent the next two months taking lessons from a French ace pilot near Paris, and in September 1921 sailed for New York. She became a media sensation when she returned to the United States.
To learn more about Coleman’s life and career, click here or watch the Smithsonian Channel video above.
article via wikipedia.com
At the University of Texas, football is religion. At Penn State University, they need football for redemption. So when these storied programs hired black head coaches within days of each other to return them to past glory, it was a major moment for a sport that has been among the slowest to promote African-American leaders at the highest level.
There have been other black head coaches at top football schools — Notre Dame, Stanford, Miami, UCLA. But the recent hiring of Charlie Strong at Texas and James Franklin at Penn State sent a powerful message, because of the combined prestige, mystique and influence of those teams. “It’s a historical moment,” said Doug Williams, the first black quarterback to win a Super Bowl and a former head coach at Grambling. “We’ve come a long way in a couple weeks,” Williams said. “Even though we don’t have as many as you would like, but when you get a Penn State and a Texas, them schools together almost make up for about 10 schools.”
There are 125 colleges playing in the top-level Football Bowl Subdivision. In 2013, 13 of them had black coaches. That was down from 15 in 2012 and an all-time high of 17 in 2011. Strong and Franklin have not been replaced by African-Americans, so the overall numbers remain low. For Franklin, the numbers are less important than the opportunities. “I don’t underestimate the significance of this moment. I take a lot of pride in that,” he said in an interview. “But the most important thing is we’re getting to a point where universities and organizations and corporations are hiring people based on merit and the most qualified guy.
After a big dinner, we enjoy mixing up a classic digestive cocktail known as the Stinger. Inevitably, we all end up in the library with drinks in hand. We keep a framed image of a distinguished looking gentleman among our cocktail books. This encourages guests to ask about his identity and opens up conversation to educate people on the first African American cocktail book author in known American history–Tom Bullock.
Not much is known about Mr. Bullock. He appears to have been born in Kentucky to a freed married couple in 1873. He made bartending fame at the Pendennis Club in Louisville as well as the St. Louis Country Club. He served quite a few powerful people, including George Herbert Walker, the grandfather of our 41st President George Herbert Walker Bush, who was such a fan he wrote the forward in Mr. Bullock’s book.
The earliest Stinger recipe we have in our cocktail book collection goes back to Tom Bullock’s The Ideal Bartender published in 1917. The Stinger is an after-dinner drink typically made with brandy, though various other liquors can be substituted. Mr. Bullock instructs to make a stinger in the following manner:
Stinger–Country Club Style
Use a large Mixing glass; fill with Lump Ice.
1 jigger Old Brandy.
1 pony white Creme de Menthe.
Shake well; strain into Cocktail glass and serve.
[jigger=1.5 ounces]
[pony=1 ounce]
I prefer a two to one ratio of even more brandy to menthe. No matter the proportions, the stinger has been seen sipped in the swankiest New York nightspots and remains a classic the world over.
article by LeNell Camacho Santa Ana
Read More: http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/blogs/editor/2013/12/tom-bullock-first-african-american-cocktail-book-author.html#ixzz2ojOzNaUv
The Harvard Lampoon, a respected humor magazine founded in 1876 and that serves as a pipeline to major comedy shows, has selected two women that are making a lot of history at the publication.
Alexis Wilkinson and Eleanor Parker represent the first time two women are leading the venerable magazine. Wilkinson is the first African-American president and the first black woman to earn the top job. Parker, also African-American, will serve as vice president.
Wilkinson told NPR she didn’t set out to make history for the magazine, but along the way realized it was going to happen. Parker said she thinks their place atop the magazine will make it easier for other women to get involved. They’re “hoping that having two women at the lead of the magazine encourages women on campus to apply and get involved and get excited about writing comedy.”
The moves come as Saturday Night Live has faced criticism for not having any black women in its cast. Recently, it held auditions exclusively for African-American women, and there are reportedly three finalists in the running. Wilkinson said she paid attention to the conversation because of how important Saturday Night Live was to her growing up.
California’s oldest university just named its first black homecoming king and queen. Seniors Daniel Harris-Lucas and Diana Busaka were crowned Thursday night at San Jose State University, beating out 22 other applicants who all submitted a nomination, two letters of recommendation, a personal statement, a resumé and news clips about them. “It’s a great accomplishment,” Harris-Lucas told NBC Bay Area. “But it’s probably overdue. I’m glad to be part of history. But this probably should have happened years ago.”
SJSU first caught national attention at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, when two of its students, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, placed in the 200 meter race and raised their black-gloved fists in the iconic black power salute. A statue of them stands on the SJSU campus today. While the homecoming judging panel noted that there has been an black queen before, this is the first year there has been a couple. Occupational therapy major Busaka was born in Kenya and public relations major Harris-Lucas grew up in foster care and has mentored youth in Oakland.
article by Lydia O’Connor via huffingtonpost.com
SJSU first caught national attention at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, when two of its students, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, placed in the 200 meter race and raised their black-gloved fists in the iconic black power salute. A statue of them stands on the SJSU campus today. While the homecoming judging panel noted that there has been an black queen before, this is the first year there has been a couple. Occupational therapy major Busaka was born in Kenya and public relations major Harris-Lucas grew up in foster care and has mentored youth in Oakland.
article by Lydia O’Connor via huffingtonpost.com
A black woman has just been named as president and CEO of one of the largest philanthropic foundations in the United States. According to a press release, La June Montgomery Tabron will take the helm at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation as the president and CEO on January 1, making her the first African-American to lead the foundation in its 83-year history. The rising executive will replace Sterling Sperin, who is stepping down as of December 31st after eight years.
The 51-year-old Detroit native has a long history with the company. Tabron started her career there at age 24. She began as a financial controller and rose within the company over the past 26 years into her current role of executive vice president of operations and treasurer. “Growing up in a family of ten children in inner-city Detroit, I know first-hand the day-to-day challenges faced by the families we seek to help,” she explained in the press release. “In so many ways, my own journey illustrates the power and impact of what is possible with the right conditions.”
Tabron graduated with a business degree in business administration from the University of Michigan, and went on to acquire a master’s degree in business administration from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. It goes without saying, black CEO’s are rare. If we take a look at the landscape of Fortune 500 companies, there are only six black CEO’s. Among those just one is a woman.
article by Rhonesha Byng via huffingtonpost.com
The 51-year-old Detroit native has a long history with the company. Tabron started her career there at age 24. She began as a financial controller and rose within the company over the past 26 years into her current role of executive vice president of operations and treasurer. “Growing up in a family of ten children in inner-city Detroit, I know first-hand the day-to-day challenges faced by the families we seek to help,” she explained in the press release. “In so many ways, my own journey illustrates the power and impact of what is possible with the right conditions.”
Tabron graduated with a business degree in business administration from the University of Michigan, and went on to acquire a master’s degree in business administration from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. It goes without saying, black CEO’s are rare. If we take a look at the landscape of Fortune 500 companies, there are only six black CEO’s. Among those just one is a woman.
article by Rhonesha Byng via huffingtonpost.com
As major political races heat up across the nation, one woman of color is proving that she can hold her own in a big city election. Letitia James officially beat out Daniel Squadron for the Democratic nomination in the New York City’s Public Advocate’s runoff race Tuesday night, the Associate Press reports. She gained 60 percent of votes to Squadron’s 40 percent which secured her position and helped diversify the Democratic party nominees for city office.
Because James has no Republican rival, she is expected to be the first African-American woman to hold a citywide elected post upon final ballot counts.
“We did it. We did it. We did it,” the former councilwoman from Brooklyn said publicly during a victory celebration. “All of us broke through that glass ceiling, and I am so proud of what we accomplished together. I’m proud that we made history tonight.”
The position of Public Advocate was the only race to have a runoff in New York City and cost nearly $13 million.
article by Liane Membis via clutchmagonline.com
DaVita Vance-Cooks was just named the nation’s public printer, making her both the first female and the first African American to lead the Government Printing Office in the agency’s 152-year history. Vance-Cooks’ appointment was approved by unanimous vote in the U.S. Senate. President Barack Obama nominated her for the position earlier this year. DaVita Vance-Cooks is a graduate from Tufts University with an MBA from Columbia University.
It has been a mission of the new GPO head to re-brand the Government Printing Office and bring them up to speed in our digital society. She led the agency’s effort to partner with Google to sell federal publications in an eBook format, launched an award-winning government book blog, modernized GPO’s customer contact center, and led the renovation of the agency’s retail bookstore in Washington, D.C. Her work led to an appointment as Deputy Public Printer in 2011.
DaVita Vance-Cooks joined the Government Printing Office in 2004. She began as the Deputy Managing Director of Customer Services, with the responsibility of overseeing the office’s liaison with federal agencies for in-house print production and printing procurement services. Under Vance-Cooks, the GPO awarded approximately $500 million dollars annually in printing contracts to the private industry and oversaw the award of a $50 million contract for the production of 2010 census materials, which was one of the largest procurements in the government agency’s history.
For the first time since 2008, GPO completed its fiscal year 2012 with a positive net income and reduced overhead costs. Under Vance-Cooks, the GPO pioneered new mobile apps, expanded the scope of information made available through the federal digital system and opened a secure credential site.
article by Erica L. Taylor via blackamericaweb.com