Black History Month: 8 Black Women Leaders You Need To Know

In 1976, 50 years after the first celebrations, President Gerald R. Ford made Black History Month official. Ford said, It is time to "seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history," History.com reports.

This year, the Smithsonian Museum is celebrating Black History Month with leaders in the arts, highlighting the “art of resistance and the artists who used their crafts to uplift the race, speak truth to power and inspire a nation.”

No Lie: Gabrielle Union on How Entrepreneurs Can Create Success

“If you can’t be honest about yourself, you will go through life as a lie,” said Gabrielle Union, entrepreneur, award-winning actress, producer and author in a recent conversation at Pride Summit 2023 with B. Pagels-Minor, podcast host and founder of DVRGNT Ventures.

Applauding Good Work: Activists Advocating For Women, Girls Across Generations

The first Chicago Foundation For Women award went to Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 2005, at the age of 72, when she was a Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. Since then, 125 women leaders have been honored, and this year, 17-year-old Azariah Baker, Youth Leader of A Long Walk Home, won the Vanguard Award.

“I have been encouraged by so many women in my life and am so thankful,” says Baker, an artist and activist, senior at George Washington College Prep High School, who is attending Spelman College in the fall. “You see women here doing everything in their fullness. My work is an ode to my Black experience.”

People First: Leading to Advance Science, Learning, Inclusion For Museums, Communities

Curiosity comes to Dr. Rabiah Mayas naturally.

The first-ever Chief Partnerships Officer at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago (one of the largest in the world), says growing up in Silver Springs, MD her parents sent her to the library or the encyclopedia to find answers to her questions.

12 Great New Books By BIPOC Women for Black Women Entrepreneurs, Leaders

Black History Month is just one month out of the year but it is necessary to honor and heed the work of Black women forever and always. Now you have a reading list that can take you through every month of the year.

In this collection of 12 recent books by Black women authors, Take The Lead salutes the energy, advice and brilliance of authors producing nonfiction, poetry, graphic novels and more.

The Future Is NOW: Black Leader Leads Organization Into Intersectional Future

The future looks beautiful to Christian Nunes, MBA, MS, LCSW,  president of the National Organization of Women, the 57-year-old organization built from the grassroots to address gender inequality at the height of the civil rights movement.

Make The Uncommon Common: Co-Founders Unite In Mentoring Black Girls and Women in STEM

Jasmine LeFlore and Dr. Brittany Wheeler grew up in different regions of the country with different circumstances, but a similar outsized curiosity and love of learning in math and science.

When they did meet when both were pursuing graduate degrees and working in engineering and aerospace, they collaborated to co-found Greater Than Tech, so Black girls would always have a space to seed their dreams.

Celebration of All: April Ryan On Supporting Black Women Rising To The Top

Growing up in Baltimore, April Ryan, CNN analyst and author, says what she witnessed was, “All my life a Black woman was rising to the top.”

Final call to submit your question for Carla!

What if we told you that someone was waiting on you to activate your Big RE?

Not next month, not next year but NOW?

Would you believe in yourself enough to start or would you continue to talk yourself out of what you really want?

Strength Finder: How Founder, CEO Turned Illness Into Powerful Global Effort To Impact Lives

Donna Cryer’s mother wanted a white picket fence surrounding an idyllic space for her children to grow up in Waterbury, Conn.

“We did indeed have a white picket fence,” says Cryer, founder, president and CEO of the Global Liver Institute, whose parents moved to Connecticut during the late 1960s when they were recruited as African American schoolteachers for local public schools.

The Joy and the Irony of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson

Issue 196 — April 11, 2022

Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Her name is already embedded in the annals of history as the first Black woman confirmed to sit on the Supreme Court of the United States.

After 232 years and 115 previous sitting justices, Judge Brown Jackson will become Justice Brown Jackson when she is sworn in at the end of the Court’s current term.

The SumGloria FeldtApril 11, 2022Supreme Court, black women in leadership, Racial Equity, Power ToComment

Let's See: Why Black Women Must Be Visible Beyond Black History Month

Yes, there is a Rosa Parks signature series Barbie doll, Ella Fitzgerald Barbie (who comes with a standing microphone), Ida B. Wells Barbie with a newspaper in her hand, as well as Katherine Johnson (with an ID badge around her neck) and Maya Angelou Barbies, each in the collector series costing about $30.

The SumMichele WeldonJanuary 28, 2022black women in leadership, Black Business, Women Leaders, intersectionalityComment

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