Lena Horne
Lena Horne was born on June 30, 1917 in Brooklyn, New York. Her parents were Teddy and Edna Scottron Horne. After her father left her at the age of two in order to pursue his gambling career; her mother leaving soon after that to pursue her acting career; she went to live with her grandparents. Through her grandparents influence she became involved with organizations like the NAACP, at an early age.
In 1924 she went back to live with her mother, traveling and being schooled all over the state until she was fourteen. At the age of fourteen she decided to drop out of school and go to work. Because she was talented and light skinned it was not hard for her to find a job. She became a chorus girl in Harlem’s Cotton Club where blacks entertained a strictly all white crowd. At that time she was making about $25 a week. It was here that Lena got to meet and observe now famous artists such as Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Count Basie, Ethal Waters, and Billie Holiday.
At the age of nineteen she met and married Louis Jones. Together they had two children Gail and Teddy (who later died in 1970 from kidney failure). While trying to get used to raising a family and having a career, she received a call from an agent, who had seen her at the Cotton Club, about a part in a movie. Her controlling husband allowed her to be in “The Duke is Tops” and also the musical revue “Blackbirds of 1939."
When she finally got up the courage to leave Louis, he deiced to take her son away from her. She lost custody of Teddy when the divorce was final and has always regretted not fighting harder for her son.
After her divorce she began singing with Noble Sissie’s Society Orchestra. Through out their tour she had to endure harsh racism having to sleep in tenement boarding houses, the bus and even once in circus grounds. Soon after that, she toured with Charlie Barnet’s Outfit and became the first African American to tour with an all white band. She was their feature singer and considers this to be the beginning of her success.
Lena decided to head out to Hollywood and see what she could do out there. She began singing in the Trocadero Club where she met one of the most influential people in her life: Billy Strayhom. Billy Strayhom was the chief music-writer for Duke Ellington. Lena has always felt that she and he were soul mates, d...
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...becoming the first Africa American to tour with an all white band and also the first African American women to sign a long-term contract with a major film studio. She was also an accomplished jazz singer. Recording songs such as: “The Lady and Her Music” and “The Best Things in Life Are Free.” Lena was a strong advocate of equal rights. he was a member of the NAACP, the National Council of Negro women and the Urban League. I think that she is a great pioneer of equal rights because she did it on her own terms and was not as forceful as some of the other advocates. She achieved equal rights and respect because of her grace, elegance and talent.
Bibliography
Magazines: Lena
Town & Country, September ‘95, Vol. 149 issue 5184, page 128.
Author: Jonathan Schwartz
The Lady Lived The Blues
Biography, February ‘98, Vol. 2 issue 2, page 62
Author: Beverly Lauderdale
Lena Horne, Timeless as Ever
Billboard, June ‘98, Vol. 110 issue 25, page 36
Author: Philip Booth
Web Pages: www.amctv.com/behind/stars/horne.html
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000006Q62/afrciangenesis
www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/Delta/6424
Ethel Waters overcame a very tough childhood to become one of the most well known African American entertainers of her time. Her story, The Eye on the Sparrow, goes into great detail about her life and how she evolved from taking care of addicts to becoming the star of her own show. Ethel was born by her mother being raped at a young age. Her father, John Waters, was a pianist who played no role in Ethel’s life. She was raised in poverty and it was rare for her to live in the same place for over a year. Ethel never fit in with the rest of the crowd; she was a big girl, about five nine when she was a teenager, and was exposed to mature things early in her life. This is what helped shape Ethel to be the strong, independent woman she is.
According to Ruth Feldstein “Nina Simone recast black activism in the 1960’s.” Feldstein goes on to say that “Simone was known to have supported the struggle for black freedom in the United States much earlier, and in a more outspoken manner around the world than many other African American entertainers.” Her family ties to the south, her unique talent, her ability to travel and make money are similar to the Blues women movement that preceded her. It can be said that Nina Simone goes a step further the by directly attacking inequities pertaining to race and gender in her music. However, what distinguishes her is her unique musicianship and that is what ultimately garners her massive exposure and experiences over those of her past contemporaries.
The five victims above are the ones that are attributed to Jack the Ripper. While there were other murders during this time period, they did not showcase the same modus operandi as the murders of Mary Jane Kelly, Catherine Eddowes, Annie Chapman, Mary Ann Nichols, and Elizabeth Stride. Though many scholars have conducted cases studies, even with modern forensics analysis of the case, we are no closer to closing the case on Jack the Ripper. Because of this anonymity, he remains one of the most infamous serial killers in history.
Gore’s logical appeals emphasize the danger and significance of global warming in a cogent, engaging multimedia platform. Rather than monotonously expounding upon detail after detail, he uses interactive visual aids to clarify his claims. As Stefan Lovgren, in “Al Gore’s ‘Inconvenient Truth’ Movie: Fact or Hype?,” abbreviates, “the documentary handles the science well.” Gore is confident in the delivery of his information; he talks to his audience with ease and precision. He states, “[t]he relationships are actually very complicated, but there is one relationship that is far more powerful than all the others and it is this: When there is more carbon dioxide...
Post graduating, she worked as a law clerk, a teacher, and a principal. In 1883, she was one of the only women to become a superintendent. This was a big deal during her time period. In 1887, she joined the Iowa Women Suffrage Association as a professional writer and lecturer, and continued on as a recording secretary for their group.
In her sixties, she came back to the South. In the South prison, she talked with some black people about what happened over there. She also gave them courage to be free and alive, before she came back to Chicago. In her last life, she wrote the autobiography so the young people knew what happen to their grandparents and parents during the reconstruction
Bessie Smith was arguably one of the most influential blues singer during the Harlem Renaissance. Bessie Smith was brought up in poverty. Born on April 15, 1894 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, one of seven children in a small one room shack. After the death of her mother and father, her older sister, Viola took care of her and the rest of her siblings. Bessie finished school until the eighth grade; when Bessie was 12, she was recruited by her brother’s mezzo troop, where she met a woman by the name of Gertrude “Ma” Rainey. Bessie defied racial barriers, she wanted to make a difference in peoples’ lives with her music and voice. She made more money than any African American before her. She dealt with a lot of
There have been 20 million arrests since 1965 for the possession of marijuana, also known as cannabis. The amount of crime and arrests for possessions of the illicit drug has increased due to the prohibition. Cannabis was a major cash crop for the industrial production prior to its illegalization. It has been estimated that the United States spends approximately $7.7 billion each year to prohibit the use of marijuana alone. Currently the number of people incarcerated is six to ten times higher than European countries (NORML). Today the United States wastes billions of dollars to fight against the war on drugs, for the imprisonment of hundreds of thousands of people, and etc. It’s also brought a raise of violence and crime relating to the dealing and production of the drug. Marijuana should be legalized because its ban has been futile in preventing illicit production, regulating it would allow new development in medical treatments, and would give a boost to the economy. The illegalization of the drug has a much more negative impact then it does well, in fact it’s pushed drug cartels to produce more of the drug because of the high demand and the millions of dollars they’ll make from profits.
Whitney Houston is considered one of the greatest singers of our generation. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, she holds the record of being the most rewarded female artist of all time. I chose her as my topic, because she represents resiliency and tenacity, despite her troubled experiences with drugs and her personal life. Whitney Houston comes from a family with an amazing, musical pedigree; her mother, Cissy Houston, was a successful back-up singer for Aretha Franklin and Elvis Presley. Dionne Warwick is her first cousin, and Aretha Franklin is her godmother.
Elizabeth “Bessie” Coleman was born on January 26, 1892 to Susan and George Coleman who had a large family in Texas. At the time of Bessie’s birth, her parents had already been married for seventeen years and already had nine children, Bessie was the tenth, and she would later have twelve brothers and sisters. Even when she was small, Bessie had to deal with issues about race. Her father was of African American and Cherokee Indian decent, and her mother was black which made it difficult from the start for her to be accepted. Her parents were sharecroppers and her life was filled with renter farms and continuous labor. Then, when Bessie was two, her father decided to move himself and his family to Waxahacie, Texas. He thought that it would offer more opportunities for work, if he were to live in a cotton town.
...ieved much in her short life, including having won a Grammy. Although her life was cut short at the age thirty nine, that did not stop her legacy. She helped to pave a path for all African Americans in the future. For example, Diana Ross; she grew up in the housing projects and found her voice also in church. She eventually got signed to a record deal and was at one point declared the most successful female singer of all time. Being a big hit also brought in much money for Washington. Some of this money helped to financially support Martin Luther King Jr. in his fight for Civil Rights for all African Americans. Therefore, since Dinah Washington overcame the prejudice and became a huge success, she showed all that whatever a white could do, an African American could also do. She showed that no matter what race, with hard work and dedication, anything is possible.
In 1888 through 1991 there were several murders on the eastside of London where the Whitechapel section was located. All of the women murdered at the Whitechapel were prostitutes. Being the first serial murder that nobody has captured and nobody knew his name but everybody knew him by his nickname as “Jack The Ripper.”
Many people dream of becoming entrepreneurs someday. But it made me realize that there other factors that needs to be taken into consideration. We need to ask ourselves are we ready to take the challenge to the outside world. Not everyone have the vision, innovation and creativity to become an entrepreneur. The individual must have a positive attitude and accept the responsibility, have discipline to meet their goals, and take action when the opportunity presents itself. Many prefer a job security and rely on a weekly paycheck, while entrepreneurs will take risks and doesn 't have that luxury to know the amount of their income.
Entrepreneurship is an important aspect of social, economic and community life. It can be viewed as a critical factor to economic growth as well as a way of addressing unemployment (Nolan, 2003).Entrepreneurs are people who are persistently focused on identifying opportunities, they seek to create something worthwhile while taking into account foreseeable risk and rewards associated with the efforts (Nolan, 2003). Furthermore, entrepreneurs are frequently understood to be individuals who discover market needs and establish new business to meet those identified opportunities. The following assignment will firstly discuss the types of entrepreneurship, secondly it will discuss the reasons people become entrepreneurs, and thirdly it will discuss the importance of entrepreneurship.
This paper examines the myths associated with what it takes to be an entrepreneur, the profiles and the common characteristics among these successful entrepreneurs.