Celebrating innovation - 2016 Aetna African American History

Transcription

Celebrating 31 years of African American accomplishments
2012 Aetna African American History Calendar
Leading the next generation of business
Celebrating innovation
Timeline Sources:
1. www.theroot.com/multimedia/work-live-earn-multiply
2. www.nndb.com/people/679/000121316/
3. http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-2062
4. www.cogreatwomen.org/brown-clara.htm
5. http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_
archive/2002/07/22/326294/index.htm
6. http://inventors.about.com/od/mstartinventors/a/Garrett_
Morgan.htm
7. www.themsj.com/black-business-leaders-in-america1.2440240?pagereq=2
8. www.usatoday.com/money/top25-leaders.htm
9. www.biography.com/people/marcus-garvey-9307319
10. www.inventions.org/culture/african/matzeliger.html
11. www.blackenterprise.com/management/earl-graves/
12. www.reginaldflewis.com/biography-3.php
13. www.chjamesco.com/leadership/leadership5.html
14. http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/
person.asp?personId=8420700&ticker=LMT:US
15. www.thegrio.com/money/made-in-america-blackowned-businesses-blaze-trails-on-our-soil.php
16. www.chrisgardnermedia.com/about/bio
17. www.blackpast.org/?q=1810-2
18. www.wisconsinhistory.org/libraryarchives/aanp/freedom/
19. www.pbs.org/blackpress/news_bios/douglass.html
20. www.promenadespeakers.com/page23.html
21. www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/elleanoreldridge-businesswoman-amid-oppression
22. www.riseandgrind.com/2010/11/25/henry-g-parks/
23. www.rhboydpublishing.com/our_company/history/
index.php
24. http://fidelisdc.com/
25. www.biography.com/people/tyra-banks16242328?page=2#reality-tv-and-other-work
26. www.thefreelibrary.com/Black+Enterprise+Issues+31st+
Annual+Report+on+America%27s+Leading...-a0101575797
Photography Locations:
Introduction: George Washington Carver Library, Austin, Texas
January: Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica, California
February: Shima Seiki U.S.A. INC., Monroe Twp., New Jersey
March: Chicago, Illinois
April: Upper Marlboro, Maryland
May: Bair Middle School, Sunrise, Florida
June: Las Vegas, Nevada
July: Carol’s Daughter,Inc., New York, New York
August: Avis Ford, Southfield, Michigan
September: California Sound Studios, Lake Forest, California
October: West Chester, Ohio
November: Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
December: New York, New York
Special thanks to those whose effort and time
helped create this calendar:
Aetna African American Employee Resource Group
Phil Barr, Strategic Initiative
Mark Callahan, Design and Interactive Media
Miguel Centeno, Community Relations, New York
Jane Condron, Law Information
Floyd Green, Head of Community Relations
Chekesha Kidd, Head of Student Health
William Kramer, Deputy Counsel, Law and Regulatory Affairs
Will Thomas, Corporate Communications
Amy Trimani, Corporate Communications
Thomas Wynn, Print Production
Credits:
Produced by Aetna Inc.
Hartford, Connecticut
Peggy Garrity, Project Manager
Photography
Lou Jones Studio
Boston, Massachusetts
Lou Jones, Photographer
Photography Assistants
Mike DeStefano
Matt Kalinowski
Bruce Lithimane
Leah Raymond
Kenneth Smoot
Printer
Allied Printing, Manchester, Connecticut
To Order Calendars
Additional calendars are available for $4 each.
To order please send a check, payable to Aetna, to:
Aetna African American History Calendar
Corporate Communications, RW3H
151 Farmington Avenue
Hartford, CT 06156
Phone: 860-273-0509
Fax: 860-273-6675
The individuals profiled in this calendar are not agents or employees of
Aetna. Aetna does not endorse any of the products of these individuals
or any product displayed.
Project Assistants
Myrna Blum
Sharon Valechko
Creative Development
The Pita Group
Rocky Hill, Connecticut
Emily Cretella, Writer
Kim Pita, Writer
Lisa Santoro, Creative Director and Designer
Nicole Stavola, Researcher
00.00.924.1 B
A Rich History In Business
Throughout history, African American entrepreneurs
have had a critical impact on the landscape of American
business. This timeline will introduce you to some of
the most groundbreaking and inspiring business
achievements of the last 200+ years.
1809: Elleanor Eldridge went to live
1810: The African Insurance
1818: Thomas Day of North
with her sister in Adams, Mass. While
there, she and her siblings started
a business of weaving, washing and
soap boiling.21
Company of Philadelphia is the first
black-owned insurance company in
the United States.17
Carolina is considered the first widely
known furniture and cabinetmaker in
the United States.17
>>
Believe It Is Possible
Starting, running and growing a business, especially
at a young age, takes passion, energy, drive,
innovation and momentum.
The 14 young entrepreneurs honored in the
31st annual edition of the Aetna African American
History Calendar all believed it was possible to do
something extraordinary with their lives.
They were born with an entrepreneurial spirit. Many
entered into business for themselves before the age
of 10. They found ways to make money early on —
selling items such as hand-painted rocks, lotions and
perfumes, music lessons, clothing and jewelry; and
doing yard work for neighbors.
We traveled across the country to gain perspectives
from young entrepreneurs who, despite humble
beginnings, have already earned millions, sold and
purchased businesses, formed foundations to
support youth, authored books, and even had their
faces pictured on credit cards.
Aetna is pleased to present the 31st annual
African American History Calendar, celebrating the
remarkable ambition of young entrepreneurs who
are working day and night to make a difference in
the communities where they live and work.
They are amazing and bright individuals who have
leveraged the advancement of technology to further
their dreams and advance their success. As leaders
for the next generation of business, these young
entrepreneurs are at the top of the pack among
their peers.
PASSION • ENERGY • DRIVE
INNOVATION • MOMENTUM
Ingenuity and
Innovation
Continue with
Today’s Young
Entrepreneurs
By Juliet E.K. Walker, Ph.D.
Documented African American history primarily focuses on the fight
for racial equality by political activists and social reformers. Absent in
historical records, however, are African Americans who forged and
encouraged economic liberation through entrepreneurship and
business enterprise.
Throughout history, business ingenuity and innovation have driven and
inspired black business development and expansion. This continues today with
the abundance of young entrepreneurs bringing business ideas to reality,
establishing new business categories, leveraging creative ingenuity and
conquering unforeseen challenges.
Black business history dates back to Colonial America. Until the Civil War,
both slaves and free blacks worked as business owners in the preindustrial
mainstream business community.
The most successful black businesspeople were wholesale and retail
merchants, as well as lumber and coal merchants. Some were commission
brokers, as well as manufacturers. Blacks also owned steamships and
railroad cars. Others invested in government, and commercial stocks and
bonds. Several achieved wealth in excess of $100,000, particularly those
who owned large real estate holdings and plantations.
Blacks also were involved in international trade. In 1784, Paul Cuffe became
the first black to sail as master of his own ship. By 1806, he had a fleet of
five ships transporting commodities to and from the West Indies, Africa,
England, Sweden and Russia.
African American women also have a historic tradition in business dating
back to Colonial times. They established domestic and personal service
enterprises. The Remond sisters established a hair salon and wig factory
in Massachusetts; as well as manufactured medicated hair tonics, which
generated substantial mail order sales. Elizabeth Keckley, the dressmaker
for Mary Todd Lincoln, owned a Washington, D.C., haute couture fashion
house that employed many female black seamstresses. In New Orleans,
in the 1850s, Madame Macarty owned a railroad depot worth more
than $155,000.
Since that time, much progress has been made by young black entrepreneurs.
They are at the forefront of developing successful enterprises inside and
outside the home.
2012 Aetna African American History Calendar www.aetnaafricanamericanhistorycalendar.com
Many of them, some of whom are profiled in this calendar, have capitalized
on the evolution of information technology to provide them with a global
customer base.
This millennial generation of entrepreneurs is well educated and well
versed. They start young and maintain momentum until success is
achieved. Many are millionaires before turning 20 years old. They are
passionate pioneers — just as their ancestors who came before them —
on a quest to make the world a better place.
Dr. Juliet E.K. Walker is founder and director of the Center for Black Business History,
Entrepreneurship and Technology at the University of Texas at Austin, where she
also serves as a history professor.
Hamet Watt
Hamet Watt thrives on transforming innovative ideas
into successful companies. His focus has always been
on finding creative ways to solve big problems.
Cofounder
bLife, Inc.
“I have always been drawn to the creativity and
innovation opportunity associated with being an
entrepreneur,” said 40-year-old Watt. “I also love
building great teams that can work together to
tackle major challenges.”
Santa Monica, CA
He spent many successful years working in the venture
capital, media and entertainment industries. His most
recent venture is bLife, a company developing the
first personal well-being subscription service.
1827: Samuel Cornish and
John B. Russwurm published
Freedom’s Journal, the first
African American-owned and
operated newspaper.18
“bLife’s mission is to develop engaging and effective
science-based tools that enable people to lead
healthier and happier lives,” said Watt. “When
we realized there were not a lot of elegant tools
available to help people with their personal growth,
we decided to get smart and build a service to
help people thrive.”
With its centralized platform, bLife tracks and
manages life goals, provides personality assessments
with other behavioral tools, and offers interaction
among users. “This is one place where people can
manage their well-being and store personal growth
data,” said Watt.
1834: David Ruggles, abolitionist
activist, opened the first African
American bookstore in the nation,
in New York City.17
1841: William Leidesdorf, who
became America’s first millionaire of
black descent, arrived in California.
After arriving, he engaged in trade
and real estate, built San Francisco’s
first hotel and was the city’s first
treasurer.1
Monday
Tuesday
As Watt continues his serial entrepreneurial journey,
he plans to inspire young people. Some words of
advice: “Find your passion, be fearless, work with
great people and address real issues.”
>>
January 2012
“Find your passion, be fearless, work with great
people and address real issues.” – Hamet Watt
Sunday
Watt advocates for the use of science in behavior
change. “The last decade of research now provides
clear data showing that improving psychological wellbeing not only benefits quality of life, it is strongly
correlated with physiological health and wellness.”
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
1
2
3
4
5
6
1863: Abraham Lincoln issues
Emancipation Proclamation.
1965: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. calls
for nonviolent protests if Alabama blacks are
not allowed to register and vote.
1624: William Tucker, first African child born
in America.
1971: The Congressional Black Caucus organized.
1943: George Washington Carver,
agricultural scientist and inventor, dies.
1831: The World Anti-Slavery Convention
opens in London.
Saturday
7
1837: Black journalist Phillip A. Bell
established his first newspaper, the
Weekly Advocate.
New Year’s Day
New Year’s Day Observed
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
1811: Charles Deslondes leads slave revolt
in Louisiana.
1866: Fisk University founded in
Nashville, Tennessee.
1750: James Varick, first Bishop of the
African Methodist Episcopal Zion (A.M.E.Z.)
Church, born.
1940: Benjamin O. Davis Sr. becomes
U.S. Army’s first black general.
1948: Supreme Court rules blacks have right to
study law at state institutions.
1990: L. Douglas Wilder inaugurated as
first African American governor (Virginia)
since Reconstruction.
1975: William T. Coleman named secretary
of Transportation.
15
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17
18
19
20
21
1929: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a major
voice for civil rights in the 20th century, born.
1978: NASA names African American
astronauts Maj. Frederick D. Gregory, Maj.
Guion S. Bluford Jr. and Dr. Ronald E. McNair.
1942: Three-time heavyweight boxing champion
Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay), born.
1856: Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, pioneer heart
surgeon, born.
1918: John H. Johnson, editor and publisher of
Jet and Ebony magazines, born.
2009: Barack H. Obama sworn in as the 44th
president of the United States of America,
becoming the first African American to hold
the office of U.S. commander-in-chief.
1870: Hiram Revels elected first black U.S.
senator, replacing Jefferson Davis for the
Mississippi seat.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s
Birthday Observed
22
23
24
25
26
27
2009: Susan Rice confirmed as U.S. ambassador
to the United Nations, becoming the first
African American woman to represent the
nation before the world in this capacity.
1891: Dr. Daniel Hale Williams founds
Provident Hospital in Chicago, the first
training hospital for black doctors and
nurses in the U.S.
1865: Congress passes 13th Amendment,
which, on ratification, abolishes slavery.
1851: Sojourner Truth addresses first Black
Women’s Rights Convention, Akron, Ohio.
1977: Andrew Jackson Young Jr. becomes the first
African American to serve as the United States
Ambassador to the United Nations.
1961: Leontyne Price, world-renowned opera
singer, makes her Metropolitan Opera debut.
29
30
31
1926: Violette Neatly Anderson becomes
first black woman lawyer to argue a case
before the Supreme Court.
1844: Richard Theodore Greener, first African
American to graduate from Harvard, born.
2006: Coretta Scott King, widow of
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who enshrined
his legacy of human rights and equality, dies.
28
1998: Sarah “Madam C.J.” Walker, first
black female millionaire, honored on
U.S. postage stamp.
Natalia Allen
Founder and CEO
Design Futurist
White Plains, NY
Like most teenagers, Natalia Allen was very particular
about the clothes she wore. With a unique sense of
style, she knew exactly what she wanted but often
could not find it in stores.
“I did research and wrote letters,” Allen remembered.
“The timing was right to grow an area of design
that allowed for the intersection of sustainability
and innovation.”
“For my 15th birthday, my mother bought me a
sewing machine, saying ‘since you know what you
would like you should learn to make your own clothes,’”
recalls Allen, now 29. Allen began to create her own
fashions with the practical gift and before long was
selling clothes to classmates.
She got her break when an executive at DuPont hired
her company, Design Futurist, to integrate conductive
fibers into fashion. The result: clothing with electronics,
lights and displays smart enough to monitor heart
rates. She’s also designed eco-innovative clothing for
brands such as DKNY®, Calvin Klein® and Quiksilver®.
Her career as a fashion designer took flight in 2004
after graduating as the Parsons Designer of the Year.
In addition to designing for multinational companies,
Allen is now creating her own sustainable clothing
1847: Frederick Douglass
established the abolitionist paper
The North Star in Rochester, N.Y., and
developed it into the most influential
antislavery paper published during
the antebellum era.19
1859: Clara Brown moved to Central
City, Colo.; and established the first
laundry, bought real estate, and
invested in Colorado gold mines.1, 4
Monday
Tuesday
Allen advises entrepreneurs, “Get things done. Just
get started. But be very thoughtful as you go along.
I am constantly studying, planning and growing.”
To restore herself, she runs, reads and surfs. “My
faith keeps me grounded. It provides renewal and
direction. I am able to come to the table with new,
strong ideas.”
>>
February 2012
“The timing was right to grow an area of design
that allowed for the intersection of sustainability
and innovation.” – Natalia Allen
Sunday
1869: Isaac Myers organized
African American ship caulkers and
longshoremen; and then used his
experience to help found the first
national African American labor
union, the Colored National
Labor Union.1
line. “We have built a culture around beautiful life-giving
products,” said Allen. “We have moved beyond
education to manufacturing.”
Black History Month
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
1
2
3
1902: Langston Hughes, poet, born.
1915: Biologist Ernest E. Just receives
Spingarn Medal for research in fertilization
and cell division.
2009: Eric H. Holder Jr. sworn in as the nation’s
first African American attorney general.
Saturday
4
1913: Rosa Parks, civil rights pioneer who
sparked 1955 Montgomery, Alabama, bus
boycott, born.
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
1884: Willis Johnson patents eggbeater.
1993: Arthur Ashe Jr., tennis player,
humanitarian and activist, dies.
1883: Ragtime pianist and composer
Eubie Blake born.
1968: Three South Carolina State
students killed during segregation protest
in Orangeburg, South Carolina.
1995: Bernard Harris becomes first African
American astronaut to walk in space.
1927: Leontyne Price, internationally acclaimed
opera singer, born.
1990: Nelson Mandela of South Africa is
released from prison after 27 years.
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13
14
15
16
17
18
1909: NAACP founded in New York City.
1970: Joseph L. Searles becomes first African
American member of New York Stock Exchange.
1760: Richard Allen, founder of the African
Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church, born.
1820: Susan B. Anthony, abolitionist and
women’s rights advocate, born.
1874: Frederick Douglass elected president
of Freedman’s Bank and Trust.
1938: Mary Frances Berry, first woman
to serve as chancellor of a major research
university (University of Colorado), born.
Lincoln’s BIrthday
1931: Toni Morrison, winner of 1988
Pulitzer Prize for her novel Beloved, born.
Valentine’s Day
19
20
21
22
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24
2002: Vonetta Flowers becomes Winter
Olympics’ first African American gold medalist.
1895: Frederick Douglass, leading voice
in the Abolitionist Movement, dies.
1965: Malcolm X assassinated in New York.
2008: Johnnie Carr, major icon of the
Civil Rights Movement, dies.
1868: W.E.B. DuBois, scholar, activist and
author of The Souls of Black Folk, born.
1864: Rebecca Lee Crumpler becomes first
black woman to receive a medical degree
(New England Female Medical College).
Presidents’ Day Observed
Ash Wednesday
Washington’s Birthday
26
27
28
29
1965: Civil rights activist Jimmie Lee Jackson
dies after being shot by state police in
Marion, Alabama.
1897: Marian Anderson, world-renowned
opera singer and civil rights activist, born.
1984: Michael Jackson, musician and
entertainer, wins eight Grammy Awards®.
1940: Hattie McDaniel becomes the first
African American to win an Academy Award®
for Best Supporting Actress for her role as
“Mammy” in “Gone With the Wind.”
25
1853: First black YMCA organized in
Washington, D.C.
Ashton & Ryan Clark
Owners
Dynamik Duo, Inc.
Twins Ashton and Ryan Clark remember a sign that
hung in their parents’ home while growing up. It said:
“Your tomorrow is determined by the choices you
make today.”
It became a motto to live by. “We learned from an
early age that our brand can be tarnished by poor
choices or strengthened by good decisions,” said
Ashton, now 23 years old. “We’ve always made life
decisions keeping our future in mind.”
Flossmoor, IL
The Clarks’ “brand management” started with their
first business ventures. As children, they never
1883: Jan E. Matzeliger was granted
a patent for his shoe-lasting machine
that was able to turn out from 150
to 700 pairs of shoes a day.10
received allowances. Instead, they raked leaves,
shoveled snow and sold lemonade to make money.
“We realized that if we pleased our customers, word
of our business would spread for us. It’s an approach
we still take,” Ryan said.
Today, the Clarks own multiple online businesses
under their Dynamik Duo business venture. Their
major websites include ludakicks.com, a custom
sneaker company; 247mixtapes.com, a streaming
music subscription site; and UticketIt.com, an online
ticketing source for event organizers, small
organizations and nonprofits.
1883: Charles H. James started the
C.H. James Company as a bartering
business that evolved into a wholesale
fruit and produce distribution house
serving independent grocers and
restaurants.13
1888: Two of America’s first
black-owned banks, the Savings
Bank of the Grand Fountain United
Order of the Reformers, in Richmond,
Va., and Capital Savings Bank of
Washington, D.C., opened their doors.17
Monday
Tuesday
“Sometimes it’s common sense,” adds Ashton.
“It goes back to the basics. What does the customer
want? What are others not providing? Innovation
can simply be improving something so that it better
impacts the lives of others and meets a need.”
>>
March 2012
“We realized that if we pleased our customers,
word of our business would spread for us.” – Ryan Clark
Sunday
“Innovation is critical in online business,” said Ryan.
“We start our businesses by looking at the market.
If we see something we don’t like about a service, we
build a better site by changing the things that need
improving, and it becomes a unique offering.”
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
1
2
1914: Ralph W. Ellison, author and
educator, born.
1867: Congress enacts charter to establish
Howard University.
Saturday
3
1865: Freedmen’s Bureau established
by federal government to aid newly
freed slaves.
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
1965: Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics
honored as NBA’s most valuable player
for fourth time in five years.
1770: Crispus Attucks becomes one of the
first casualties of the American Revolution.
1857: Supreme Court issues Dred Scott decision.
2006: Photographer-filmmaker Gordon Parks,
who captured the struggles and triumphs of
black America, dies.
1945: Phyllis M. Daley becomes first black nurse
sworn in as a Navy ensign.
1841: Amistad mutineers freed by
Supreme Court.
1869: Robert Tanner Freeman becomes
first African American to receive a degree
in dentistry.
11
12
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14
15
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17
1959: Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun
opens at Barrymore Theater, New York; the first
play by a black woman to premiere on Broadway.
1932: Andrew Young, former
U.N. ambassador and former mayor
of Atlanta, born.
1773: Jean Baptiste Pointe Du Sable, black
pioneer and explorer, founded Chicago.
1956: Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott ends
when municipal bus service is desegregated.
1947: John Lee, first black commissioned
officer in the U.S. Navy, assigned to duty.
1827: Freedom’s Journal, the first U.S. black
newspaper, is founded.
1890: Charles B. Brooks patents street sweeper.
St. Patrick’s Day
Daylight Saving Time Begins
18
19
20
21
22
23
1822: The Phoenix Society, a literary and
educational group, founded by blacks in
New York City.
1939: Langston Hughes founded The New
Negro Theater in Los Angeles.
1883: Jan E. Matzeliger patents
shoe-lasting machine.
1965: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. leads
march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama,
for voting rights.
1898: J.W. Smith patents lawn sprinkler.
1873: Slavery abolished in Puerto Rico.
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27
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29
30
2009: John Hope Franklin, a prolific scholar
of African American history who influenced
thinking about slavery and Reconstruction, dies.
1831: Bishop Richard Allen, founder and first
Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.)
Church, dies.
1924: Jazz singer Sarah Vaughan,
“The Divine One,” born.
1870: Jonathan S. Wright becomes first black
state Supreme Court justice in South Carolina.
1918: Pearl Bailey, singer and actor, born.
1870: Fifteenth Amendment ratified,
guaranteeing voting rights to blacks.
24
1907: Nurse and aviator Janet Harmon
Bragg born.
31
1988: Toni Morrison wins Pulitzer Prize
for Beloved.
Gabrielle Jordan
Williams
Author, Public Speaker and CEO
Jewelz of Jordan
Upper Marlboro, MD
Gabrielle Jordan Williams began her business, Jewelz
of Jordan, to fill a void in the children’s jewelry market.
The difference between Williams and other business
innovators? She was only 9 years old when she broke
through her market space.
Williams got the idea of turning her hobby into a
business from her parents. “I saw the passion she
had for jewelry making,” said her mother, Marcella
Mollon-Williams. “I knew that passion was what
she needed to be successful.”
“I noticed a lot of children’s jewelry was made
with plastic beads and charms. I wanted to create
something more upscale,” said Williams, now an
11-year-old fifth-grade student. “So I began to
use glass beads, stones and silver to create elegant
pieces that are high quality.”
Williams began by selling jewelry to family and
friends. She then expanded to vending at seminars
and workshops. In June 2011, Williams launched
JewelzofJordan.com, which includes an online store.
1898: Charles Clinton Spaulding,
Aaron McDuffie Moore and John
Merrick founded the first blackowned and managed insurance
company, North Carolina Mutual
Life Insurance Co.1
Williams spends her free time designing new pieces,
especially for her Mommy & Me mother-daughter
1900: National Negro Business League
founded by Booker T. Washington, one
of the nation’s most visible, influential
and controversial black leaders from
the 1890s until his death in 1915.1
1903: Maggie Lena Walker pooled
her community’s money to open
the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank,
making her the nation’s first woman
to charter a U.S. bank, as well as
serve as its president.1
“I noticed a lot of children’s jewelry was made with plastic beads
and charms. I wanted to create something more upscale.”
– Gabrielle Jordan WIlliams
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
jewelry line. She is a frequent public speaker,
and she also has turned her experiences into a book,
The Making of a Young Entrepreneur.
“My book is about motivating children to follow
their dreams,” she said.
Williams herself has big dreams to follow. “I want
to be an international motivational speaker, a
jewelry designer to the stars, a philanthropist
and a millionaire by 15 years old,” she said.
She then adds: “I’d also like to play soccer.”
>>
April 2012
Thursday
Friday
1
2
3
4
5
6
1950: Blood research pioneer
Charles R. Drew dies.
1984: Georgetown coach John Thompson
becomes first African American coach to
win the NCAA® basketball tournament.
1826: Poet-orator James Madison Bell, author
of the Emancipation Day poem “The Day and
the War,” born.
1968: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.
1951: Washington, D.C., Municipal Court of
Appeals outlaws segregation in restaurants.
1909: Matthew A. Henson reaches North Pole,
45 minutes before Robert E. Peary.
Palm Sunday
Saturday
7
1959: Lorraine Hansberry becomes first black
playwright to win New York Drama Critics
Circle Award (for A Raisin in the Sun).
Good Friday
Passover Begins (sundown)
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
1974: Atlanta Braves slugger Hank Aaron hits
715th career home run, surpassing Babe Ruth
as the game’s all-time home-run leader.
1816: African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.)
Church formed.
1816: Richard Allen consecrated first
Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal
(A.M.E.) Church.
1997: The Charles H. Wright Museum of African
American History, the world’s largest museum
of its kind, opens in Detroit.
1983: Harold Washington becomes first African
American elected mayor of Chicago.
1997: Tiger Woods wins Masters
Golf Tournament.
1775: First abolitionist society in U.S.
founded in Philadelphia.
21
Easter
15
16
17
18
19
20
1964: Sidney Poitier becomes first black
to win Academy Award® for Best Actor for
Lilies of the Field.
1862: Slavery abolished in the
District of Columbia.
1983: Alice Walker wins Pulitzer Prize
for fiction for The Color Purple.
1995: Margo Jefferson receives Pulitzer Prize
for criticism.
1972: Stationed in Germany, Maj. Gen.
Frederic E. Davidson becomes first African
American to lead an Army division.
2010: Dorothy Height, leading female voice
of the 1960s civil rights movement, dies.
22
23
24
25
26
27
1922: Jazz bassist and composer
Charles Mingus born.
1856: Granville T. Woods, inventor of the steam
boiler and automobile air brakes, born.
1944: United Negro College Fund incorporated.
1918: Ella Fitzgerald, “First Lady of Song,” born.
1888: Sarah Boone patents ironing board.
1968: Dr. Vincent Porter becomes first black
certified in plastic surgery.
Administrative Professionals Day
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30
1899: Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington,
jazz musician and composer, born.
1952: Dr. Louis T. Wright honored by
American Cancer Society for his contributions
to cancer research.
1966: Pfc. Milton L. Olive III awarded
posthumously the Congressional Medal of
Honor for valor in Vietnam.
28
2009: Sojourner Truth, former slave turned
abolitionist, becomes first African American
woman to have a memorial in the U.S. Capitol.
James Taylor
At an early age, James Taylor began his
entrepreneurial path by cutting lawns and
collecting cans from neighbors.
CEO
Taylored Athletes Sports, Inc.
Today, at 28, he is running a successful youth sports
development agency. Taylored Athletes Sports has
positively changed the lives of more than 6,000 children.
Boca Raton, FL
Taylor thought of the company name while visiting
an orphanage in Prussia. After playing professional
basketball and working as a high school teacher in
South Florida, he started the company; and quickly
became a pioneer for the basketball training industry.
1905: Richard Henry Boyd began
the Globe Publishing Company,
the National Baptist Church
Supply Company and the Union
Transportation Company.23
“It started as a basketball concierge service. I wanted
to take away pressure from parents who had to figure
out how to teach their kids how to play the game,”
said Taylor. Today, the company offers one-on-one
basketball lessons, a basketball summer camp and
basketball academies.
“We take our students on a journey of self-discovery.
We teach perseverance and patience,” said Taylor.
“We help them to handle basketball wars they may
come across. These could be problems with coaches,
politics and hidden agendas. We teach them to never
give up on their goals.”
Taylored Athletes Sports teaches students lessons
on and off the court. It provides a safe and positive
youth sports environment. The company has a
one-love philosophy — a universal love that is
shared by everyone.
Taylor has built a team of talented people to carry
out his passion for child development. Along with
balancing his family life, he is working on several
books, including a basketball training guide and a
CEO motivational guide.
1907: Madam C.J. Walker, America’s
first black female millionaire,
revolutionized the black hair-care
business and started traveling
throughout the United States selling
her new line of hair-care products.1
1914: Garrett Morgan received
a U.S. patent for his gas mask
invention. Two years later, in 1916,
Morgan used the gas mask to rescue
32 men trapped during an explosion
in an underground tunnel.6
May 2012
“We take our students on a journey of self-discovery.
We teach perseverance and patience.” – James Taylor
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
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Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
1
2
3
4
1867: First four students enter
Howard University.
1995: Shirley Jackson assumes chairmanship
of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
1964: Frederick O’Neal becomes first black
president of Actors’ Equity Association.
1961: Freedom Riders begin protesting
segregation of interstate bus travel in
the South.
Saturday
5
1988: Eugene Antonio Marino installed as
first U.S. African American Roman Catholic
archbishop.
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
1991: Smithsonian Institution approves creation
of the National African American Museum.
1845: Mary Eliza Mahoney, America’s
first black trained nurse, born.
1983: Lena Horne awarded Spingarn Medal for
distinguished career in entertainment.
2010: Lena Horne, singer, actress and civil
rights activist, dies.
1950: Boston Celtics select Chuck Cooper, first
black player drafted to play in the NBA.
1895: Composer William Grant Still, first
African American to conduct a major
American symphony orchestra, born.
1862: Black slaves commandeer the
Confederate ship “The Planter.”
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
1872: Matilda Arabella Evans, first black woman
to practice medicine in South Carolina, born.
1913: Clara Stanton Jones, first black
president of the American Library
Association, born.
1820: Congress declares foreign slave trade
an act of piracy, punishable by death.
1927: Dr. William Harry Barnes becomes first
African American certified by a surgical board.
1954: In Brown v. Board of Education, Supreme
Court declares segregation in public schools
unconstitutional.
1896: In Plessy v. Ferguson, Supreme Court
upholds doctrine of “separate but equal”
education and public accommodations.
Mother’s Day
1993: University of Virginia professor
Rita Dove appointed U.S. poet laureate.
Armed Forces Day
20
21
22
23
24
25
1961: U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy
dispatches U.S. marshals to Montgomery,
Alabama, to restore order in the Freedom
Rider crisis.
2006: Katherine Dunham, pioneering
dancer and choreographer, author and
civil rights activist, dies.
1921: Shuffle Along, a musical featuring
a score by Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle,
opens on Broadway.
1900: Sgt. William H. Carney becomes
first African American awarded the
Congressional Medal of Honor.
1854: Lincoln University (Pa.), first African
American college, founded.
1926: Jazz trumpeter Miles Dewey Davis born.
27
28
29
30
31
1942: Dorie Miller, a ship‘s steward, awarded
Navy Cross for heroism during the attack on
Pearl Harbor in 1941.
1948: National Party wins whites-only
elections in South Africa and begins to
institute policy of apartheid.
1901: Granville T. Woods patents overhead
conducting system for the electric railway.
1965: Vivian Malone becomes first African
American to graduate from the University
of Alabama.
1870: Congress passes the first Enforcement
Act, providing stiff penalties for those who
deprive others of civil rights.
Memorial Day Observed
26
1961: During Kennedy administration,
Marvin Cook named ambassador to
Niger Republic, the first black envoy
named to an African nation.
Dr. Farrah Gray
Dr. Farrah Gray’s mother was always honest with her
son about money. As a young boy, he understood
how much it took to make ends meet.
Founder and CEO
Farrah Gray Foundation
Six-year-old Gray sold treasures to neighbors to
help out when money was tight, earning his first $50
selling hand-painted rocks, and then lotion created
by combining different bottles found at home. While
in the third grade, he started a business club with his
friends, raising $15,000 by selling prepaid phone cards.
Las Vegas, NV
1919: Marcus Garvey started the
Negro Factories Corporation, a series
of companies that manufactured
marketable commodities in every
big industrial center in the Western
hemisphere and Africa. He also
established the Black Star Steamship
Line Corporation.9
“My grandmother always said ‘children are practicing
adults,’” said Gray. With that in mind, the Farrah Gray
Foundation teaches inner-city and high-risk youth
how to become entrepreneurs.
“We each have the freedom to control our own
destiny,” said Gray. “The problem is analysis
paralysis. Entrepreneurs tend to overthink. They
need to believe they can do it. ”
Gray believes dreams can come true if each day
begins with passion, hustle and knowledge. Though
still under 30, his accomplishments are vast. He
opened an office on Wall Street, cohosted a Las
Vegas radio show, has a lucrative speaking career,
started and sold Farr-Out Foods for $1 million,
became an international best-selling author,
started a publishing house, and was pictured
on a MasterCard® credit card.
Gray continues to use his earnings to help others.
“At the end of the day, I want to feel as if I have done
something meaningful,” he said. “I want to plant that
seed for someone else.” He urges kids to dedicate
at least 10 percent of their energy to their goals.
“Action has no season. It has to start today.”
1921: The Binga Bank, initially
opened in 1908 by Jesse Binga, was
reestablished in 1921 as the Binga
State Bank.17
1921: Harry Pace formed Black Swan
Phonograph Corporation, the first
African American-owned record
company in Harlem.17
June 2012
“The problem is analysis paralysis. Entrepreneurs tend to
overthink. They need to believe they can do it.” –Dr. Farrah Gray
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
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Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
1
1968: Henry Lewis becomes first black
musical director of an American symphony
orchestra — New Jersey Symphony.
3
4
2008: Senator Barack Obama wins Democratic
presidential nomination, becoming the first
African American nominee of a major U.S.
political party.
Saturday
2
1971: Samuel L. Gravely Jr. becomes first
African American admiral in the U.S. Navy.
5
6
7
8
9
1967: Bill Cosby receives an Emmy Award
for his work in the television series I Spy.
1987: Dr. Mae C. Jemison becomes first African
American woman astronaut.
1831: First annual People of Color convention
held in Philadelphia.
1917: Poetess Gwendolyn Brooks, first
African American to win the Pulitzer Prize
(poetry, 1950), born.
2011: Clara Luper, Oklahoma civil rights icon
who led sit-ins at drugstore lunch counters in
Oklahoma in 1958, dies.
1995: Lincoln J. Ragsdale, pioneer fighter
pilot of World War II, dies.
16
®
10
11
12
13
14
15
1854: James Augustine Healy, first black
Roman Catholic bishop, ordained a priest
in Notre Dame Cathedral.
1964: Nelson Mandela sentenced to life
imprisonment by South African government.
1963: Medgar W. Evers, civil rights leader,
assassinated in Jackson, Mississippi.
1967: Thurgood Marshall nominated to
Supreme Court by President Lyndon Johnson.
1864: Congress rules equal pay for all soldiers.
Flag Day
1913: Dr. Effie O’Neal Ellis, first black woman
to hold an executive position in the American
Medical Association, born.
17
18
19
20
21
22
1775: Minuteman Peter Salem fights in the
Battle of Bunker Hill.
1942: Harvard University medical student
Bernard Whitfield Robinson commissioned
as the Navy’s first black officer.
1865: Blacks in Texas are notified of
Emancipation Proclamation, issued in 1863.
1953: Albert W. Dent of Dillard University
elected president of the National Health
Council.
1821: African Methodist Episcopal Zion
(A.M.E.Z.) Church established.
1897: William Barry patents postmarking and
cancelling machine.
Father’s Day
1970: Kenneth A. Gibson elected mayor of
Newark, New Jersey, first African American
mayor of a major Eastern city.
23
1940: Sprinter Wilma Rudolph, winner of three
gold medals at 1960 Summer Olympics, born.
Juneteenth
24
25
26
27
28
29
1964: Carl T. Rowan appointed director of
the United States Information Agency.
2009: Michael Jackson, musician and
entertainer, dies.
1975: Dr. Samuel Blanton Rosser becomes first
African American certified in pediatric surgery.
1991: Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall
announces his retirement.
1911: Samuel J. Battle becomes first black
policeman in New York City.
2006: Lloyd Richards, theater pioneer and
Tony® Award winner for direction of Fences,
dies on his 87th birthday.
30
1917: Lena Horne, singer, actress and civil
rights activist, born.
Lisa Price
Nearly 20 years ago, Lisa Price began mixing up
fragrances and creams in her kitchen. Word caught
fire and Carol’s Daughter was born.
Founder
Carol’s Daughter, Inc.
Initially, she would have one-on-one discussions with
clients at flea markets and in her living room when
they inquired about getting more product. Today,
she engages customers through social media.
New York, NY
“It’s very important to me to listen to what the
customer wants and create things that she needs.
I’ve always enjoyed having those conversations.
1923: A.G. Gaston founded his first
business, the Booker T. Washington
Burial Society, after seeing a need
among poor blacks for more
affordable funerals.3
Now, it may be through Twitter rather than at a flea
market, but it’s still real and authentic,” said Price, 50.
addition to HSN, touts Macy’s and Sephora among
its retail partners.
Carol’s Daughter maintains its popularity by being
an innovator – from providing products made with
natural ingredients to launching entertainer Mary J.
Blige’s first fragrance “My Life” on television’s Home
Shopping Network (HSN) and breaking that network’s
fragrance record by selling 60,000 units in one day.
The innovation continued with the launch of its
performance hair care franchises Monoi and
Chocolat in 2011. Price’s products are sold in more
than half a dozen Carol’s Daughter stores; and in
Even with such a great distribution strategy, the
company stays ahead of the curve. “People are
hungry for information,” Price said. “Customers
research on Facebook, look up YouTube videos and
read online reviews before even stepping into the
store. Consumers are very savvy. In business, you
have to continuously innovate the ways you operate
and the ways you speak to your customers.”
1942: John H. Johnson turned $500
he borrowed against his mother’s
furniture into the seed money that
created Johnson Publishing Company,
and he was placed on the Forbes 400
list of the nation’s wealthiest citizens.1
1951: Henry G. Parks started the
Parks Sausage Company, which grew
into a multimillion dollar operation
with more than 240 employees and
annual sales exceeding $14 million.22
July 2012
“It’s very important to me to listen to what the customer
wants and create things that she needs. ” – Lisa Price
Sunday
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Tuesday
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Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
1
2
3
4
5
6
1889: Frederick Douglass named U.S. Minister
to Haiti.
1872: Elijah McCoy patents first self-lubricating
locomotive engine. The quality of his inventions
helped coin the phrase “the real McCoy.”
1688: The Quakers in Germantown,
Pennsylvania, make first formal protest
against slavery.
1900: Traditional birthdate of Louis “Satchmo”
Armstrong, jazz pioneer.
1991: Nelson Mandela elected president of the
African National Congress.
1957: Althea Gibson wins women’s singles title
at Wimbledon, first African American to win
tennis’s most prestigious award.
Saturday
7
1948: Cleveland Indians sign pitcher Leroy
“Satchel” Paige.
Independence Day
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
2000: Venus Williams wins women’s singles
championship at Wimbledon.
1893: Dr. Daniel Hale Williams performs
first successful open-heart operation.
1943: Arthur Ashe Jr., first African American
to win the U.S. Open and men’s singles title
at Wimbledon, born.
1905: W.E.B. DuBois and William Monroe
Trotter organize the Niagara Movement,
a forerunner of the NAACP.
1949: Frederick M. Jones patents cooling
system for food transportation vehicles.
1965: Thurgood Marshall becomes first African
American appointed U.S. solicitor general.
1951: George Washington Carver Monument,
first national park honoring an African American,
is dedicated in Joplin, Missouri.
21
15
16
17
18
19
20
1867: Maggie Lena Walker, first woman and
first African American to become president
of a bank, born.
1822: Violette A. Johnson, first black woman to
practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, born.
2009: Ret. Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Charles F.
Bolden Jr. becomes first African American
administrator of NASA.
1998: African American Civil War Soldiers
Memorial dedicated, Washington, D.C.
1925: Paris debut of Josephine Baker,
entertainer, activist and humanitarian.
1950: Black troops (24th Regiment) win first
U.S. victory in Korea.
22
23
24
25
26
27
1827: James Varick, first Bishop of the
African Methodist Episcopal Zion (A.M.E.Z.)
Church, dies.
1962: Jackie Robinson becomes first
black baseball player in the major leagues
inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame.
1807: Shakespearean actor Ira Aldridge born
in New York City.
1916: Garrett Morgan, inventor of the gas
mask, rescues six people from gas-filled
tunnel in Cleveland, Ohio.
1948: President Harry S. Truman issues
Executive Order 9981, ending segregation
in armed forces.
1880: Alexander P. Ashbourne patents
process for refining coconut oil.
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30
31
1895: First National Conference of Colored
Women Convention held in Boston.
1822: James Varick elected first bishop
of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion
(A.M.E.Z.) Church.
1874: Rev. Patrick Francis Healy inaugurated
president of Georgetown University,
Washington, D.C.
1896: Mary Church Terrell elected first
president of National Association of
Colored Women.
28
1868: 14th Amendment, granting African
Americans full citizenship rights, becomes
part of the Constitution.
Kenneth L. Harris
President and CEO
Michigan Black Chamber of Commerce
Detroit, MI
Kenneth Harris knows how to get down to business.
Harris is passionate about helping African Americans
and other minorities succeed. As president and CEO
of the Michigan Black Chamber of Commerce, he
brings together entrepreneurs at all levels of success.
His goal? To reinvigorate Michigan.
“African Americans have excelled in so many arenas,
yet we have not reached our economic potential and
power,” said Harris, 38. “I’m motivated by the chance
to serve underserved communities. I want to help
1959: Berry Gordy Jr. borrowed $800
from his family’s savings to create
Motown Record Company, which
attracted some of the many rhythm
and blues performers emerging in
Detroit at that time.17
business owners compete globally. Because if black
businesses compete, Michigan benefits.”
come together as a community and educate
mainstream society,” he said.
Harris has always been driven to help African
Americans reach economic parity. In 2004, he founded
the International Detroit Black Expo, Inc. The Expo
provides an opportunity for African Americans to
showcase their businesses. It quickly grew to one
of the largest exhibitions in the country.
Harris grew up in Detroit. He believes creativity,
innovation and technology will help propel the black
business community forward.
“Michigan hosts more than 79,000 black businesses.
It is also home to many of the top black businesses
in the country. But no one knew. It was time for us to
1967: Albert William Johnson was
the first African American awarded a
dealership from a major automaker
when he opened an Oldsmobile
dealership in a predominately black
neighborhood in Chicago.17
1971: Johnson Products, a hair-care
company, became the first blackowned company to be listed on a
major U.S. stock exchange (AMEX).17
“The economy is green. It is not black, not white,
not pink and not yellow,” he said. “My goal is to
help mobilize black businesses. I want to influence
commerce in local economies. I want people to look
at Michigan and say, ‘Wow, Michigan gets it now.’”
>>
August 2012
“My goal is to help mobilize black businesses. I want to
influence commerce in local economies.” – Kenneth L. Harris
National Black Business Month
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
1
2
3
1879: Mary Eliza Mahoney graduates from
New England Hospital for Women and Children,
becoming the first black professional nurse
in America.
1924: James Baldwin, author of Go Tell It on
the Mountain, The Fire Next Time and Another
Country, born.
1800: Gabriel Prosser leads slave revolt in
Richmond, Virginia.
Saturday
4
1810: Abolitionist Robert Purvis born.
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
1962: Nelson Mandela, South African
freedom fighter, imprisoned. He was not
released until 1990.
1965: President Lyndon B. Johnson signs
Voting Rights Act, outlawing literacy test
for voting eligibility in the South.
1907: Dr. Ralph J. Bunche, first African
American Nobel Prize® winner, born.
2005: John H. Johnson, founder and publisher
of Ebony and Jet magazines, dies.
1936: Jesse Owens wins fourth gold medal
at Summer Olympics in Berlin.
1989: Gen. Colin Powell is nominated chairman,
Joint Chiefs of Staff, the first African American
to hold this post.
1872: Dr. Solomon Carter Fuller, acknowledged
as first black psychiatrist, born.
18
12
13
14
15
16
17
1977: Steven Biko, leader of Black
Consciousness Movement in South Africa,
arrested.
1981: Reagan administration undertakes its
review of 30 federal regulations, including rules
on civil rights to prevent job discrimination.
1989: First National Black Theater Festival
held in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
2007: Max Roach, first jazz musician honored
with a MacArthur Fellowship, dies.
1922: Author Louis E. Lomax born.
1849: Lawyer-activist Archibald Henry Grimké,
who challenged the segregationist policies of
President Woodrow Wilson, born.
19
20
21
22
23
24
1954: Dr. Ralph J. Bunche named
undersecretary of United Nations.
1993: Dr. David Satcher named director of
the Centers for Disease Control.
1904: Bandleader and composer
William “Count” Basie born.
1880: Cartoonist George Herriman born.
1926: Carter Woodson, historian, author,
inaugurates Negro History Week.
1950: Judge Edith Sampson named first black
delegate to United Nations.
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27
28
29
30
31
1946: Composer, singer and producer
Valerie Simpson Ashford born.
1963: W.E.B. DuBois, scholar, civil rights activist
and founding father of the NAACP, dies.
1963: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivers
“I Have A Dream” speech during March on
Washington, D.C.
1920: Saxophonist Charlie “Bird” Parker born.
1983: Lt. Col. Guion S. Bluford Jr. becomes the
first African American astronaut in space.
1836: Henry Blair patents cotton planter.
1859: Harriet Wilson’s Our Nig is first novel
published by a black writer.
25
1925: A. Phillip Randolph founds
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters.
Jermaine Griggs
Founder
Hear and Play Music
Santa Ana, CA
Jermaine Griggs got his start in music in the ’80s.
It was on the piano his grandmother won on the TV
game show “The Price is Right.” He learned to play by
listening to music. He then joined a children’s church
choir as the pianist and became well known.
Griggs’ business experience began at age 7. He sold
stationery and cards to neighbors, followed by Avon
products years later. At 17, he merged his musical
and business talents to provide paid music lessons to
friends. He borrowed $70 from his mother to buy the
domain HearandPlay.com, and built a million dollar
online self-help education business.
1972: Earl G. Graves Sr. was named
one of the 10 most outstanding
minority businessmen in the country by
the president of the U.S. and received
the National Award of Excellence for
achievements in minority business
enterprise. Two years earlier, he
launched Black Enterprise magazine.11
“Like most entrepreneurs, I started early. I had the
desire to be something, to have something more,”
Griggs said. He grew up in the low-income area of
Long Beach, Calif.
Hearandplay.com is primarily for adults 25 to
44 years old. Many of his customers played piano
in their youth. “As adults, they rekindled their
passion for music,” said Griggs.
The company produces online training videos and
DVDs in a Santa Ana music studio. “We stay true to
our mission, but look for ways to expand upon it,”
1979: Robert Johnson, a trailblazer
for minority entrepreneurs, founded
cable’s Black Entertainment
Television.8
“Like most entrepreneurs, I started early. I had the
desire to be something, to have something more.”
– Jermaine Griggs
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
1980: David L. Steward founded
World Wide Technology, Inc.; a
provider of technology products,
services and supply chain solutions
to public, private and nonprofit
customers.1
he said. They recently created software to help
people learn to sing.
“The Internet has been amazing for our business.
It has granted us a worldwide audience. I am so
thankful to be in this era,” said Griggs.
Griggs attributes his success to picking a niche and
sticking with it. Online education offerings include
various music genres; and instruments such as piano,
guitar, sax and flute.
>>
September 2012
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
1
1993: Condoleeza Rice named provost at
Stanford University, becoming the youngest
person and first African American to hold
this position.
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
1958: Frederick M. Jones patents control device
for internal combustion engine.
1979: Robert Maynard becomes first African
American to head a major daily newspaper,
Oakland Tribune in California.
1957: Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus calls out
the National Guard to bar black students from
entering a Little Rock high school.
1960: Leopold Sedar Senghor, poet and
politician, elected president of Senegal.
1848: Frederick Douglass elected president
of National Black Political Convention in
Cleveland, Ohio.
1954: Washington, D.C., and Baltimore,
Maryland, public schools integrated.
1981: Roy Wilkins, executive director of the
NAACP, dies.
15
Labor Day
9
10
11
12
13
14
1968: Arthur Ashe, Jr. wins men‘s singles
tennis championship at U.S. Open.
1855: John Mercer Langston elected township
clerk of Brownhelm, Ohio, becoming first
African American to hold elective office
in the U.S.
1959: Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington wins
Spingarn Medal for his achievements in music.
1992: Dr. Mae C. Jemison becomes first African
American woman to travel in space.
1886: Literary critic Alain Lovke, first black
Rhodes Scholar, born.
1921: Constance Baker Motley, first black
woman appointed federal judge, born.
16
17
18
19
20
21
1923: First Catholic seminary for black priests
dedicated in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
1983: Vanessa Williams becomes first African
American crowned Miss America.
1895: Booker T. Washington delivers famous
Atlanta Exposition speech.
1893: Albert R. Robinson patents electric
railway trolley.
1830: First National Convention of Free Men
agrees to boycott slave-produced goods.
1998: Florence Griffith Joyner, Olympic track
star, dies.
23
24
25
26
27
28
1863: Civil and women’s rights advocate
Mary Church Terrell born.
1895: Three Baptist Conventions merged
to form the National Baptist Convention.
1974: Barbara W. Hancock becomes first African
American woman named a White House fellow.
1962: Sonny Liston knocks out Floyd Patterson
to win heavyweight boxing championship.
1912: W.C. Handy publishes Memphis Blues.
1991: National Civil Rights Museum opens in
Memphis, Tennessee.
1963: Four black girls killed in Birmingham,
Alabama, church bombing.
22
1862: Emancipation Proclamation announced.
Rosh Hashanah Begins (sundown)
Yom Kippur Begins (sundown)
30
1962: James Meredith enrolls as first black
student at University of Mississippi.
29
1910: National Urban League established in
New York City.
Khary Cuffe
Khary and Selena Cuffe always knew they would
become entrepreneurs. The two successful marketers
and business managers were just waiting for the
right inspiration.
Cofounder and CFO
Heritage Link Brands, LLC
“It was wonderful. There was a jazz band and
dancing. There were booths showcasing wine
produced by black South Africans. These people
had been living on vineyards and working the land
for generations, but they were not legally allowed
to start businesses until 1994,” said Selena.
“You need to have tremendous passion for a product
or service you launch,” said Selena, 36. “Passion is
what will carry you through the days when every
door you try to open closes in your face.”
Los Angeles, CA
Selena Cuffe
She was inspired by their stories and shocked to
learn that their wines were not available in the
United States. She brought an idea home to Khary.
Selena discovered that passion unexpectedly on
a business trip to South Africa in 2005. There, she
attended a local wine festival held in an area
usually avoided by tourists.
President and CEO
Heritage Link Brands, LLC
Los Angeles, CA
1983: Eula Adams became the first
African American partner at Touche,
the accounting firm that has since
become Deloitte & Touche.5
“I was skeptical,” said Khary, 33. “The wine market
was extremely competitive and fragmented. What
would be our unique value? But I was convinced to
do a test market, and the rest is history.”
1984: Russell Simmons began his
entrepreneurial ventures when he
launched Def Jam Recordings, the
label that spawned the careers of
notable artists such as Run-DMC.7
1987: Reginald F. Lewis purchased
the international division of Beatrice
Foods and rebranded the corporation
as TLC Beatrice International, which
became the first black-owned
company to have revenues of more
than $1 billion, at $1.8 billion.12
Monday
“We didn’t get into the business because of a love
for wine,” said Selena. “We want to create brands
of inspiration. Through the medium of wine, we want
to transform the way the world perceives Africa.”
>>
October 2012
“You need to have tremendous passion for
a product or service you launch.” – Selena Cuffe
Sunday
The couple founded Heritage Link Brands, LLC,
which imports South African wines; and sells them
internationally to licensed distributors, airlines, and
cruise lines. The company continues to innovate
and grow; working international trade routes, and
forming partnerships in places such as Hong Kong
and the Philippines.
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
1
2
3
4
5
1996: Lt. Gen. Joe Ballard becomes first African
American to head the Army Corps of Engineers.
2000: James Perkins Jr. sworn in as Selma,
Alabama’s, first African American mayor.
1956: Nat “King” Cole becomes first black
performer to host his own TV show.
1864: First black daily newspaper, The New
Orleans Tribune, founded.
2011: Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, described
by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as “the
most courageous civil rights fighter in the
South,” dies.
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
1993: Toni Morrison becomes the first African
American to win the Nobel Prize® in literature.
1941: Rev. Jesse Jackson, political activist
and civil rights leader, born.
2001: Dr. Ruth Simmons, first African American
leader of an Ivy League institution, elected 18th
president of Brown University.
2010: Solomon Burke, Grammy Award-winning
singer/songwriter, “King of Rock and Soul,” dies.
1887: Granville T. Woods patents telephone
system and apparatus.
2005: C. Delores Tucker, civil rights activist and
founder of the National Black Congress, dies.
1579: Martin de Porres, first black saint in
the Roman Catholic church, born.
20
®
6
1917: Political activist Fannie Lou Hamer born.
Columbus Day Observed
14
15
16
17
18
19
1964: At age 35, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
becomes youngest man to win Nobel
Peace Prize.
1991: Clarence Thomas confirmed as an
associate justice of U.S. Supreme Court.
1984: Bishop Desmond Tutu wins Nobel
Peace Prize.
1888: Capital Savings Bank of Washington, D.C.,
first bank for African Americans, organized.
1948: Playwright Ntozake Shange, author of
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide
When The Rainbow Is Enuf, born.
1943: Paul Robeson opens in Othello at the
Shubert Theater in New York City.
21
22
23
24
25
26
1917: Trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, pioneer of
bebop, born.
1953: Dr. Clarence S. Green becomes
first African American certified in
neurological surgery.
1947: NAACP petitions United Nations on
racial conditions in the U.S.
2005: Rosa Parks, civil rights pioneer who
sparked 1955 Montgomery bus boycott, dies.
1992: Toronto Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston
becomes first African American to manage
a team to a World Series title.
1911: Mahalia Jackson, gospel singer, born.
United Nations Day
28
29
30
31
1998: President Bill Clinton declares HIV/AIDS
a health crisis in racial minority communities.
1949: Alonzo G. Moron becomes first black
president of Hampton Institute, Virginia.
1979: Richard Arrington elected first African
American mayor of Birmingham, Alabama.
1899: William F. Burr patents switching
device for railways.
Halloween
1898: The first African American-owned
insurance company, North Carolina Mutual
Life Insurance Co., founded.
27
1954: Benjamin O. Davis Jr. becomes first
black general in U.S. Air Force.
Tina Wells
Tina Wells has discovered the fountain of youth – or
at least, how to turn youth into a fountain of success.
CEO and Founder
Buzz Marketing Group
As the CEO and founder of the marketing and
research firm Buzz Marketing Group, Wells helps her
clients build prosperous connections with the youth
market. Her team gathers the interests, needs and
desires of youth, then they use that knowledge to
market to this important demographic.
Philadelphia, PA
“I’ve always been fascinated with popular culture.
The youth market is usually what drives that culture,”
Wells said.
1987: Christopher Gardner founded
the brokerage firm Gardner Rich in
Chicago from his home with just
$10,000, which he evolved into
Gardner Rich LLC, a FINRA-registered
broker-dealer with offices in New
York, Chicago and San Francisco.16
Wells unofficially started her company when she was
16 years old. She began writing product reviews for
a publication called New Girls Times. She would send
those reviews to the companies about which she
wrote. Many of the companies started writing back –
and sending her more products to review.
“I never thought it would turn into a career,” said
Wells, now 31. “While I always thought about business,
I never viewed myself as an entrepreneur. It was a
natural progression.”
Now Wells views herself as a “serial entrepreneur.”
In addition to her marketing firm, she is the author
1997: Founded after a merger,
Baldwin Richardson Foods Co. is one
of America’s largest black-owned food
companies in the U.S.15
“I think it’s important to continuously reinvent
yourself and your business.” – Tina Wells
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
2002: CAMAC, a global energy firm
founded by Nigerian-born Kase
Lawal in 1986, became the second
black American company with more
than $1 billion in revenues. Houston,
Texas-based CAMAC has offices in
Johannesburg, Cape Town, London,
Grand Cayman, Lagos and Abuja.26
of the tween fiction series Mackenzie Blue, published
by HarperCollins Children’s Books. She’s working on
developing that series into a mega brand. Wells also
has written a youth marketing handbook, Chasing
Youth Culture And Getting It Right; she is a blogger
for The Huffington Post; and she is working on
developing an ecommerce project.
“I like the idea of starting projects based on
consumer needs and behaviors,” she said. “I think
it’s important to continuously reinvent yourself
and your business.”
>>
November 2012
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
1
2
1945: John H. Johnson publishes first
issue of Ebony.
1983: President Ronald Reagan designates
Martin Luther King Jr. Day a national holiday.
Saturday
3
1981: Thirman L. Milner elected mayor of
Hartford, Connecticut, becoming first African
American mayor in New England.
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
2008: Senator Barack Obama elected 44th
president of the U.S., becoming first African
American to be elected chief executive in the
232-year history of the country.
1968: Shirley Chisholm of Brooklyn,
New York, becomes first black woman
elected to Congress.
1900: James Weldon Johnson and J. Rosamond
Johnson compose “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
2011: Joe “Smokin’ Joe” Frazier, former
heavyweight world boxing champion, dies.
1938: Crystal Bird Fauset elected state
representative in Pennsylvania, becoming first
black woman to serve in a state legislature.
1731: Mathematician, urban planner and
inventor Benjamin Banneker born.
2006: Benny Andrews, painter and teacher
whose work drew on memories of his
childhood in the segregated South, dies.
17
Election Day
Daylight Saving Time Ends
11
12
13
14
15
16
1989: Civil Rights Memorial dedicated in
Montgomery, Alabama.
1941: Mary Cardwell Dawson and Madame
Lillian Evanti establish the National Negro
Opera Company.
1940: The U.S. Supreme Court rules in
Hansberry v. Lee that African Americans
cannot be barred from white neighborhoods.
1915: Booker T. Washington, educator
and writer, dies.
1881: Payton Johnson patents swinging chair.
1981: Pam Johnson named publisher of the
Ithaca Journal in New York, becoming first
African American woman to head a daily
newspaper.
Veterans Day
1980: Howard University airs WHHM,
first African American-operated public
radio station.
Veterans Day Observed
18
19
20
21
22
23
1797: Sojourner Truth, abolitionist and
Civil War nurse, born.
1953: Roy Campanella named Most Valuable
Player in National Baseball League for the
second time.
1923: Garrett A. Morgan patents traffic
light signal.
1893: Granville T. Woods patents electric
railway conduit.
1930: Elijah Muhammed establishes the
Nation of Islam.
1897: A.J. Beard patents the Jenny Coupler,
used to connect railroad cars.
Thanksgiving Day
25
26
27
28
29
30
1955: The Interstate Commerce Commission
bans segregation in interstate travel.
1883: Sojourner Truth, abolitionist and
Civil War nurse, dies.
1990: Charles Johnson awarded National Book
Award for fiction for Middle Passage.
1961: Ernie Davis becomes first African
American to win the Heisman Trophy®.
1908: Adam Clayton Powell Jr., politician and
civil rights activist, born.
1912: Gordon Parks, writer, filmmaker and
photographer, born.
24
1868: Pianist Scott Joplin, the “Father of
Ragtime,” born.
Amos Winbush, III
Founder and CEO
CyberSynchs
New York, NY
Amos Winbush knows what consumers want.
He began his company, CyberSynchs, because of his
concern for data loss on mobile devices. “I lost all
of my information when my iPhone® crashed. So I
developed an application out of necessity and
sheer frustration,” Winbush, age 28, said.
His idea: Allow consumers to synch data across
operating systems and devices. This would allow
them to back up and own their information. The idea
was groundbreaking. But as a musician, he didn’t
have the technology skills to make it a reality.
2003: Tyra Banks ventured into the
world of reality TV when she created,
produced and hosted the UPN show
“America’s Next Top Model.” Two
years later, in 2005, Banks expanded
into daytime television with her own
talk show, “The Tyra Show.”25
“I never launched a company before. So I found
amazing software developers and great mentors
who understood how to take technology to the next
level,” said Winbush. “It was a challenging road
to take.”
Challenging, yet rewarding. Winbush started his
company with $250. Over the first year, he invested
$80,000 of his own money. Three years later,
CyberSynchs is valued at more than $200 million.
The company has major partnerships all over the
world, including in Central and South America, and
Africa. It serves 80 million customers.
2009: Richard Bennett, ex-marine,
built the $8 million construction
company Fidelis Design and
Construction, which handles all
aspects of construction management,
consulting and building.24
“People are hungry for information. Innovation is
key for growth and longevity.” – Amos Winbush, III
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
2011: Publisher, producer, television
host, philanthropist and billionaire
multimedia entrepreneur Oprah
Winfrey launched the Oprah Winfrey
Network (OWN) with partner Discovery
Communications on January 1.1
“You need to have a product that finds customers.
I don’t believe in the ‘build it and they will come’
philosophy,” Winbush said. “Today, everything is
so accessible through the Web. People are hungry
for information. Innovation is key for growth
and longevity.”
Winbush encourages other would-be entrepreneurs
to build a strong team of employees and advisors.
“You cannot operate on an island. You need a cluster
of islands in order to make it work,” he said.
>>
December 2012
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
1
1955: Rosa Parks arrested for refusing to
give her seat to a white man, sparking the
Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott.
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
1884: Granville T. Woods patents
telephone transmitter.
1847: Frederick Douglass publishes first
issue of North Star.
1906: Alpha Phi Alpha, first black Greek letter
fraternity, founded at Cornell University.
1955: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. organizes
Birmingham, Alabama, bus boycott, marking
beginning of the Civil Rights Movement.
1932: Richard B. Spikes patents
automatic gearshift.
1942: Reginald F. Lewis, first African American
to create a billion-dollar business empire
through the leveraged buyout of Beatrice
International Foods, born.
1925: Entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. born.
15
9
10
11
12
13
14
1872: P.B.S. Pinchback of Louisiana becomes
first black governor.
1950: Dr. Ralph J. Bunche becomes first African
American awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
1926: Blues singer Willie Mae “Big Mama”
Thornton born.
1995: Willie Brown defeats incumbent
Frank Jordan to become the first African
American mayor of San Francisco.
1944: First black servicewomen sworn
in to the WAVES.
1829: John Mercer Langston,
congressman and founder of Howard
University Law Department, born.
16
17
18
19
20
21
1976: Andrew Young nominated by
President Jimmy Carter to be U.S. ambassador
to United Nations.
1802: Teacher and minister Henry Adams born.
1865: Congress passes 13th Amendment,
abolishing slavery.
1875: Educator Carter G. Woodson,
“Father of Black History,” born.
1860: South Carolina secedes from the
Union, initiating the Civil War.
1911: Baseball legend Josh Gibson born.
23
24
25
26
27
28
1867: Sarah “Madam C.J.” Walker,
businesswoman and first black female
millionaire, born.
1832: Charter granted to Georgia Infirmary,
the first black hospital.
1907: Cab Calloway, bandleader and first
jazz singer to sell 1 million records, born.
2011: Sam Rivers, jazz legend, dies.
1862: African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
founded in New Bern, North Carolina.
1905: Earl “Fatha” Hines, “Father of Modern
Jazz Piano,” born.
Kwanzaa Begins
Christmas
30
31
1892: Dr. Miles V. Lynk publishes first black
medical journal for physicians, the Medical and
Surgical Observer.
1930: Odetta, blues and folk singer, born.
Hanukkah Begins (sundown)
1883: William A. Hinton, first African American
on Harvard Medical School faculty, born.
22
1883: Arthur Wergs Mitchell, first black
Democrat to be elected to Congress, born.
29
1924: Author, sportswriter A.S. “Doc”
Young born.
Biographies
Natalia Allen
Natalia Allen is a fashion designer and surfer who combines green
and tech to create innovative styles using environmentally and socially
responsible practices.
Called the “Conscientious Fashionista,” Ms. Allen founded Design
Futurist in 2005. She has developed textiles integrating conductive fibers
for DuPont, rain gear free of petroleum-based chemicals for DKNY® and
photoluminescent fabrics for athletic wear. Winner of the Young Scientist/
Entrepreneur Partnership Award from the IAP Global Network of Science
Academies, she is developing, with scientist Stephen Miller, synthetic
textiles from plants.
Ms. Allen is educating business leaders and students both nationally
and internationally on the future of fashion as well as manufacturing
her own sustainable fashion line. In January 2012, Time Warner Cable
interviewed Ms. Allen about her pioneering career path for the
“Born to Shine” television series.
Ms. Allen is a member of the Consumer Industry Agenda Council of the
World Economic Forum and the Social Venture Network. She also holds
the Generation Award from Women Inspiration & Enterprise. A graduate of
Parsons The New School For Design, where she won the coveted Designer
of the Year Award, Ms. Allen has shared her knowledge of green fashion at
conferences in the U.S., China, Saudi Arabia and Davos. Ms. Allen is one of
the World Economic Forum’s “Young Global Leaders,” one of Fast Company’s
“100 Most Creative,” and one of Utne Reader’s “25 Visionaries Who Are
Changing Your World.”
Ashton Lee and Ryan Anthony Clark
Ashton Lee Clark and Ryan Anthony Clark have been serial entrepreneurs
since high school. They have created several successful Internet businesses,
including LudaKicks.com, 247Mixtapes.com and UTicketIt.com, receiving
many honors for their entrepreneurial endeavors. In 2009, Ashton and
Ryan were named “2 of 7 Next Generation: Emerging Leaders Under 40” by
Diversity Executive magazine for their entrepreneurial success in college. Also
in 2009, they were finalists in Entrepreneur magazine’s and mtvU’s business
plan competitions with UTicketIt.com. In 2010, they competed in the Idea
2 Product regional competition for UTicketIt in St. Louis, which led them
to the global competition as finalists. In 2011 Ashton and Ryan were listed
as #2 on YFS (Young, Fabulous & Self-Employed ) magazine’s Top 20 Young
Entrepreneurs of 2011.
Ashton Clark is an information strategy consultant at Accenture, where he
assists executives in identifying, improving and managing information from
a strategic perspective. In his spare time, he plans events for the Chicago
African American Special Interest Group to bring the Chicago Accenture
black community together.
Ashton is an alumnus of both the College of Business and College of
Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where
he studied accountancy, with a minor in technology and management.
He also is an alumnus of the Management Leadership for Tomorrow,
MLT and The Institute for Responsible Citizenship programs. In college,
Ashton was executive president of the National Black MBA Association
(the first undergraduate chapter in the nation) and was awarded the
NBMBA undergraduate scholarship.
Ryan Clark works for an alternative investments firm, where he serves
as the liaison between software development and client services. In his
position, Ryan automates processes, and leads training and support for
newly implemented technologies.
Ryan graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from
both the College of Business and College of Engineering. He received a
B.S. in accountancy, and a minor in Technology and Management. In
college, Ryan served as president of the Multicultural Leadership Group
(MLG). He was awarded the MLG Scholarship for academic, professional
and community involvement, which placed him in the top 2 percent of
MLG members. Ryan also was the proud recipient of the 2009 National
Black Engineer Award for Student Leadership Award. In addition, Ryan was
awarded the 2009 ICIC (Initiative for a Competitive Inner City) Growing Up
CEO Award, which honors America’s top inner-city youth entrepreneurs.
Follow Ashton and Ryan Clark on Twitter @ashtonlclark and @rclark88.
Khary and Selena Cuffe
Khary Cuffe is cofounder and CFO, and Selena Cuffe is president and
CEO of Heritage Link Brands, LLC (www.heritagelinkbrands.com), an
importer of wines from South Africa and her Diaspora.
Khary Cuffe served as a marketer for the Procter & Gamble Company (P&G);
where he was responsible for a global multifunctional marketing team
for Pampers®, P&G’s largest brand, and for Old Spice®. He led commercial
strategy and product initiative development, including claims, demos,
TV advertising, digital and print copy development for all developing
and emerging markets.
Mr. Cuffe is a graduate of Wesleyan University, and holds master’s degrees
from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Business and John F. Kennedy
School of Government. He also serves as a board member for the Hamilton
County School for Math and Science in Hamilton, Ohio.
His mission is to share the gift of music with everyone and to change the
way the world learns music, one person at a time. He believes music and
the arts have the ability to heal, inspire, connect us, further movements,
and touch the soul.
Selena Cuffe served as a marketer for the Council on International
Educational Exchange (CIEE) and the Procter & Gamble Company, where
she was a manager on the Pringles® brand, one of P&G’s coveted billion
dollar global brands. She managed CIEE’s $100 million marketing budget
for North America; supported the commercialization of all Pringles flavors
in the U.S., Canada, and Latin America; and developed marketing plans to
reach African American and Hispanic customers. She also supported the
launch of Tampax Pearl®, the first category innovation of P&G’s feminine
care business unit in more than 20 years.
Mr. Griggs enjoys traveling around the world as an invited speaker at
seminars, workshops, and summits, where he teaches businesspeople
and entrepreneurs how to imitate his success. He was named a “Top 10
Superstar Under 30” by Dun & Bradstreet and a “Top Entrepreneur
Under 25” by Kiplinger and MSN Money.
Mrs. Cuffe is a graduate of Stanford University and holds an MBA with
honors from Harvard University. She also serves on the Bing Overseas
Studies Advisory Council at Stanford University, the Alumni Board of the
Harvard Business School and the Advisory Board of House of Mandela
(South Africa).
Both Mr. and Mrs. Cuffe recently have become weekly columnists
for Inc. magazine.
Having seen his company grow from a few hundred dollars a month into
a million dollar business constantly reminds Mr. Griggs of his humble
beginnings. He ‘gives back’ by sharing his story with entrepreneurs and
young people all over the country.
Mr. Griggs’ future plans include an inner-city speaking tour, where he’ll
encourage young people to have big dreams just like he did. He also plans
to expand the “HearandPlay” model to offline learning centers in
metropolitan areas.
A graduate of University of California, Irvine, Mr. Griggs is married to his
high school sweetheart and has three children. He currently resides in
Orange County, Calif.
Dr. Farrah Gray
Raised in the impoverished south side of Chicago, Dr. Farrah Gray
defied the odds and became a self-made millionaire by the age of 14.
In his rise from poverty to national and international prominence as
an entrepreneurial icon and preeminent power speaker, Dr. Gray has
inspired millions around the world.
Now 27, Dr. Gray is a celebrity entrepreneur, philanthropist, best-selling
author and syndicated columnist who has been placed #3 on MSN.com’s
Young Tycoon list along with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Dr. Gray was motivated from a very young age to “do good by doing well.”
At six years old, he began selling homemade body lotion and hand-painted
rocks as bookends door-to-door. At age seven, he carried business cards
reading “21st Century CEO.” At eight years old, he started UNEEC (Urban
Neighborhood Economic Enterprise Club).
Between the ages of 12 and 16, Dr. Gray founded and operated
business ventures that included KIDZTEL prepaid phone cards and
Farr-Out Foods, which generated orders exceeding $1.5 million.
When Dr. Gray was 16, he acquired INNERCITY magazine from Inner
City Broadcasting Corporation, the largest privately held radio
broadcasting company in the U.S. reaching African Americans.
Dr. Gray believes that action, as always, counts for more than mere words.
He contributes his personal income from speaking engagements to the
Farrah Gray Foundation, which provides quarterly grants to local afterschool and summer programs for inner-city youth; and literacy, tutoring,
and mentoring programs for underperforming students.
Dr. Gray launched FundingEntrepreneurs.com for seed-stage entrepreneurs
to find mentors, advisors and angel investors via the Internet. He founded
the University Of Business Futures (UBF), a virtual university in inner-city
venues that helps at-risk youth become America’s future entrepreneurs.
UBF helps its disadvantaged students gain the self-knowledge necessary
to build successful businesses.
Dr. Gray is CEO of Farrah Gray Publishing, a boutique book publishing
house that is one of the largest African American-owned book publishing
companies in the country.
Dr. Gray was named one of the most influential black men in America
by the National Urban League’s Urban Influence magazine and one of
BET’s 12 Famous Black Entrepreneurs.
Dr. Gray continues his philanthropic work as the spokesman for the
National Coalition for the Homeless. In memory of his late sister, Greek
Gray, who had acute myelogenous leukemia, he partnered with the National
Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) to launch a nationwide campaign to create
awareness about the need for African American donors, and recruit African
Americans to join NMDP’s national marrow donor registry.
Kenneth L. Harris
Kenneth L. Harris, founder of the International Detroit Black Expo, Inc.,
has worked to bridge the gap between minority-owned businesses
throughout the region. He is a socially conscious individual, having
always been passionate about helping African Americans and other
minorities realize their dreams through economic empowerment.
Born and raised in Detroit, Mr. Harris has been a pioneer in helping
minorities attain economic equality. In 2009, Mr. Harris was elected to the
Detroit Charter Commission in a highly contested citywide race featuring
54 candidates. Since his election, he has been an integral part of the
nine-member commission that will revise the entire governing structure
of the city of Detroit, one that has been revised only three times in the
history of the city. Through his position, Mr. Harris is working to help
Detroit rebuild its economic future.
A former NCAA® Basketball Academic All-American point-guard for Clark
Atlanta University, Mr. Harris was the first African American chief of staff
and executive assistant to the mayor of Southfield, Mich.; first African
American counseling psychologist for St. John Community Health and
the first African American vice president of business development for the
Michigan Minority Supplier Diversity Council, Inc. Additionally, Mr. Harris is
the president and CEO of the Michigan Black Chamber of Commerce and
serves on the U.S. Black Chamber of Commerce board of directors.
Recently, Mr. Harris received the U.S. Small Business Administration 2007
Minority Business Advocate of the Year award and was inducted into Who’s
Who in Black Detroit Most Influential. Mr. Harris was inducted into Crain’s
Detroit Business “Class of 2007 40 under 40”; and also received the 2008
Excellence Award for Economic Empowerment by 100 Black Men of Greater
Detroit, Inc. He received the 2010 Michigan Front Page “30 in their 30s”
award and in September 2011 was chosen for the DBusiness magazine
“30 in their 30s Most Influential.”
Mr. Harris graduated with a B.A. in psychology and M.A. in counseling
psychology from Clark Atlanta University, and an educational specialist
degree from Wayne State University. He received a doctorate of humane
letters from Detroit’s Lewis College of Business in 2008, and an educational
specialist degree in educational leadership and policy studies from
Wayne State University. Mr. Harris is a Ph.D. candidate in African
American and African Studies at Michigan State University’s Eli Broad
College of Business.
Lisa Price
From humble beginnings in her Brooklyn kitchen, Lisa Price, founder
of Carol’s Daughter, Inc., transformed her beloved hobby of mixing up
fragrances and creams at home into a multimillion dollar beauty empire.
Jermaine Griggs
In the early 1990s, Ms. Price began experimenting with making her own
fragrances and perfume sprays when she wasn’t busy working on the
legendary sitcom “The Cosby Show.” She added oils to unscented lotions,
and began learning the aromatherapeutic and healing properties of
the oils.
Twenty-eight-year-old Jermaine Griggs is a minister, musician, entrepreneur
and public speaker. Having grown up in the inner city of Long Beach, Calif.,
with his mom and sister, he always envisioned creating a better life through
his own enterprise. At 16, he founded Hear and Play Music, an instructional
music company specializing in teaching piano by ear. With only $70, he
bought the name HearandPlay.com and launched the company that would
not only change his life but hundreds of thousands of musicians around
the world through his books, DVDs and training courses.
When the show finished its remarkable run, Ms. Price used the end of
one chapter of her life to embark on another. With $100 in cash, her own
kitchen, and the simple notion that people should follow their hearts,
Ms. Price started building the collection that would become a beauty
revolution. She began by selling her homespun beauty products at flea
markets, but then had to set up shop in her living room as demand
increased. Favorable word-of-mouth spread like wildfire.
Twelve years later, more than 2 million aspiring musicians download
his online lessons every year, and over 300,000 loyal students receive
his newsletters.
Biographies
In 1994, Ms. Price officially established Carol’s Daughter, Inc. (the company
lovingly named after her mother). Initially starting out with a handful of steady
customers, those numbers grew in leaps and bounds as women outside her
neighborhood and circle of friends began to take notice. Almost overnight,
celebrities such as Jada Pinkett-Smith, Erykah Badu, Rosie Perez and
Halle Berry became loyal customers.
Today, Carol’s Daughter sells millions of dollars worth of products, employs
more than 80 staff members and boasts nine stores across the country, with
a flagship store in Harlem. Ms. Price hopes to continue expanding Carol’s
Daughter to other cities.
Ms. Price is dedicated to giving back to the community through both her
business and her personal life. She has taken a hands-on approach to
involvement in fund-raising efforts for the Foundation for the Advancement
of Women Now. Additionally, Ms. Price generously and frequently offers
product donations to community organizations both large and small in
an effort to help Carol’s Daughter’s extended friends and family with their
own outreach and fund-raising efforts.
Dr. Juliet E.K. Walker
Gabrielle Jordan Williams
A history professor and founder and director of the Center for Black Business
History, Entrepreneurship and Technology at the University of Texas at Austin,
Dr. Juliet E.K. Walker is the foremost scholar in black business history; with her
publications providing the foundation as a subfield in African American
history. In 2010, she was awarded the Carter G. Woodson Scholars Medallion
by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH).
Gabrielle Jordan Williams became an entrepreneur and speaker at the age of
9, and author at the age of 11. She began creating jewelry at the age of 7 after
watching an instructional video on YouTube. Since then, she has aggressively
pursued her craft with the passion of a seasoned pro.
Dr. Walker is author of The History of Black Business in America: Capitalism, Race,
Entrepreneurship (1998, 2009), the first and only comprehensive study of
African American business; editor of the Encyclopedia of African American
Business History (1999); and author of more than 90 articles, essays, and
encyclopedia entries.
Dr. Walker’s research has been supported by fellowships from Princeton
University, the Radcliff Institute, the Ford and Rockefeller foundations,
National Endowment for the Humanities, and the American Historical
Association. She also held a Senior Fulbright Teaching and Research
Fellowship in South Africa.
Most recently, Ms. Price has been appointed a member of the National
Women’s Business Council, an independent source of advice and policy
recommendations to the president, Congress, and the U.S. Small Business
Administration on economic issues that face female business owners.
A University of Chicago Ph.D. under Dr. John Hope Franklin, with postdoctoral
work at Harvard University’s Du Bois Institute, Dr. Walker’s development of
the black business history field began with her book Free Frank: A Black
Pioneer on the Antebellum Frontier (1983).
Ms. Price and her husband, Gordon, have two sons and a daughter, and live
in Brooklyn, N.Y. When she can find the time (between managing her business
and family), Ms. Price enjoys going to the beach, reading, crocheting, and
watching movies.
Dr. Walker is an Alpha Kappa Alpha soror and serves on the boards of the
National Black Herstory Task Force; ASALH; The Empowerment Experiment;
Minorities For Equality In Education, Liberty and Justice; and the Texas NAACP.
She has two sons and three grandchildren, Zachary, Brianna, and Bryce.
James Taylor
Hamet Watt
If you’re not successful at achieving the first Plan A, get another Plan A.
Never settle for Plan B.
Hamet Watt is an entrepreneur passionate about bringing groundbreaking
ideas to market. He has launched several innovative companies, and frequently
advises businesses on their marketing and media ventures.
As a single father in high school, Mr. Taylor escaped poverty and beat the odds
to earn an athletic scholarship to play college basketball at Lynn University
in Boca Raton, Fla. Regarded as one of the top guards in the nation, he was a
Division II All-American as a freshman, sophomore, junior and senior.
Mr. Taylor serves as the founder and president of A Taylored Heart Foundation,
a not-for-profit organization that emphasizes the three A’s – Attitude, Academics,
and Athletics – to provide at-risk youth with vital leadership and character
education. Mr. Taylor launched Urban Excellence, his first business, as a
19-year-old college sophomore. The business provided educational scholarship
coaching and consulting to high school students to help ease the burden
and stress of locating and applying for scholarships. Mr. Taylor traveled around
the country conducting workshops and building successful college prep
programs for organizations such as the YMCA, Boys and Girls Clubs, and
the Urban League.
In 2005, Mr. Taylor signed a professional basketball contract that landed him
in Australia, Russia and the NBA Development League. When his Plan A,
making the NBA, didn’t happen, he changed course; leaving the basketball
court for the boardroom. Mr. Taylor launched Taylored Athletes Sports, Inc.,
and introduced South Florida to his Pro At Your Door™ Basketball Training
Service in 2008.
Taylored Athletes Sports now works with 3,000 youth annually, providing
educational leadership training through its afterschool programs, AAU
basketball clubs, 5 on 5 tournaments, school sports consulting, empowerment
workshops, summer camps and programs in South Florida. The company
has forged strategic partnerships with national organizations such as Sports
Authority, Med Express, National Down Syndrome Society Buddy Walk,
Lynn University, Florida Atlantic University and Garden of Life.
Mr. Taylor was honored on November 17, 2011, at the White House as one of
our country’s Top100 Entrepreneurs Aged 30 and Under. He also was named
to the Empact100. Both the success of Taylored Athletes Sports, Inc. and the
Empact100 list are testament to the impact young entrepreneurs have on
the American economy. The 100 companies on the list are responsible for
contributing over 2,500 jobs and over $374 million in revenue.
Mr. Taylor holds a graduate degree in sports administration and marketing,
and an undergraduate degree in business management from Lynn University.
He has been featured in more than 50 state and local news publications on
entrepreneurship, black issues in higher education, sports business, and the
social effects of cultural diversity in education. Mr. Taylor has trained over
5,000 athletes and provided creative consulting to brands such as Nike®
and Jordan®.
Founded in 2009, Miss Williams’ Maryland-based jewelry company, Jewelz of
Jordan, sells beautiful fashion jewelry for both women and girls with a focus
on mother-daughter matching jewelry. Miss Williams’ pieces were primarily
sold to friends and family until 2010 when she began vending at seminars
and workshops. She launched her online store in June 2011.
A motivational speaker and author of the book The Making of a Young
Entrepreneur, Miss Williams loves promoting entrepreneurship and the
importance of pursuing one’s dreams. She has spoken to hundreds of
youth at Girl Scout events, youth entrepreneurship workshops, youth
writers’ workshops, youth events and on radio shows. Miss Williams has
been recognized by the Entrepreneur and Professional Network as the
“2011 Rising Star Young Entrepreneur of the Year,” “One of the Most Influential
Community Leaders” by Sharpermind Consultants and by Mayor Stephanie
Rawling-Blake of the city of Baltimore, Md. Miss Williams also was the
recipient of the first annual EPNET Young Entrepreneur Scholarship.
Miss Williams is in the sixth grade, where she consistently maintains a
3.30 GPA or better. She is a member of the Future Business Leaders of
America and is a peer mediator. Her favorite subject is science. Her career
goals are to become a gemologist, international speaker, bestselling
author and philanthropist.
Amos Winbush, III
Mr. Watt is a cofounder and co-CEO of bLife, Inc., a company that offers
innovative technology-based mobile tools to help users realize their own
potential. Committed to real science and technology, bLife’s team has
formed an impressive Scientific Advisory Board and is collaborating with
the Behavior Change Lab at Stanford University.
Mr. Watt also is chairman of MoviePass, and was previously an
entrepreneur-in-residence with True Ventures.
Mr. Watt founded NextMedium – the first full-service platform for buying,
selling and measuring product placement across entertainment content.
Mr. Watt’s Embed® platform was adopted by NBC, MTV and BET; leading
media agencies; and more than 100 brands. Business 2.0 called NextMedium,
which was subsequently acquired by Brand Affinity Technologies, one of “the
next disruptors.” Prior to founding NextMedium, Mr. Watt helped Nielsen
Media Research develop its product placement measurement service.
Mr. Watt also previously served as a general partner at Sloan Financial Group’s
$120 million New Africa Opportunity Fund, the first U.S.-backed venture fund
investing in post-apartheid South Africa. He has invested in a broad spectrum
of companies operating in southern Africa.
A leader in the Los Angeles entrepreneurial community, Mr. Watt sits on the
board of the LA Venture Association and is active with other entrepreneurial
organizations. He has frequently been noted in the national press for
innovation in media and entrepreneurship; and has been featured in
publications such as Entrepreneur, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles
Times, and Forbes.
Mr. Watt studied business at Florida A&M. He lives in Los Angeles, Calif.,
with his wife, Joy, and his son, Zion.
Tina Wells
Tina Wells, CEO and founder of Buzz Marketing Group, earned her B.A. in
Communication Arts graduating with honors from Hood College in 2002.
Currently a Wharton School of Business student for marketing management,
Ms. Wells continues to create innovative marketing strategies for numerous
clients within the beauty, entertainment, fashion, financial and lifestyle
sectors. Ms. Wells has worked with clients that include Maidenform, Inc.;
Sony Music Entertainment; PBS; Procter & Gamble; Sesame Workshop;
and American Eagle Outfitters, Inc.
Ms. Wells’ long list of honors include Essence’s “40 Under 40,” Billboard’s
“30 Under 30,” and Inc.’s “30 Under 30.” She is the author of the tween series
Mackenzie Blue, published by HarperCollins Children’s Books; and the youth
marketing handbook Chasing Youth Culture And Getting It Right, which was
published by Wiley in April 2011.
Ms. Wells is a celebrated blogger on The Huffington Post. She serves on the
board of directors of the Philadelphia Orchestra Association, The Franklin
Institute, Symphony in C and The Young Entrepreneur Council. She resides
in Southern New Jersey.
Amos Winbush, III is the CEO and mastermind behind CyberSynchs, the
world’s leading universal data transfer and synchronization company. It all
began when Mr. Winbush’s iPhone® crashed. Frustrated with no simple
solution, he took charge of the problem and created a universal
synchronization company with global reach.
Mr. Winbush is one of the brightest CEOs under 30 in the tech industry. He
views today’s world of technology as an ecosystem supporting innovation and
valuing disruptors. Through his leadership and vision, Mr. Winbush quickly
grew CyberSynchs into the multimillion dollar company it is today.
Projecting vision and wisdom beyond his years, Mr. Winbush stands out from
the tech industry’s sea of hoodies and jeans with signature-coordinated
bow ties, argyle socks and pocket squares. His manicured attire recalls
memories of a more formal business acumen. He continues to lead the
CyberSynchs executive team on the path of high growth, revolutionizing
the world of data synchronization for virtually any digital device.
Mr. Winbush directs his passion, energy and intellect into everything he does,
including his dedication to education and improving the social condition.
Understanding and devoted to providing technical tools and education
in both rural and urban areas, Mr. Winbush donates resources and technology
to schools nationwide. He is involved with and speaks frequently to
organizations that promote social change such as the New York Urban
League and Project Enterprise, among others.
Mr. Winbush also speaks frequently to various business groups, at technology
and political events, and to youth organizations. His many speaking
engagements have included the Black Enterprise Conference for three
consecutive years; the 14th Annual Wall Street Conference, Project
Enterprise Entrepreneur Week, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s
41st Annual Legislative Conference, the Performance Conference, and the
JAVAONE West Conference.
His numerous awards and honors include The Network Journal’s 40-Under-40;
New York Enterprise Report’s Game Changer; Most Influential CEOs Under 30;
Under30CEO.com and the Project Enterprise Inspiration Award (all in 2011);
Entrepreneur magazine’s 100 Brilliant Companies and Inc. magazine’s Black
Enterprise’s Innovator of the Year (both in 2010).
Celebrating 31 years of African American accomplishments
2012 Aetna African American History Calendar
Leading the next generation of business
Celebrating innovation
Timeline Sources:
1. www.theroot.com/multimedia/work-live-earn-multiply
2. www.nndb.com/people/679/000121316/
3. http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-2062
4. www.cogreatwomen.org/brown-clara.htm
5. http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_
archive/2002/07/22/326294/index.htm
6. http://inventors.about.com/od/mstartinventors/a/Garrett_
Morgan.htm
7. www.themsj.com/black-business-leaders-in-america1.2440240?pagereq=2
8. www.usatoday.com/money/top25-leaders.htm
9. www.biography.com/people/marcus-garvey-9307319
10. www.inventions.org/culture/african/matzeliger.html
11. www.blackenterprise.com/management/earl-graves/
12. www.reginaldflewis.com/biography-3.php
13. www.chjamesco.com/leadership/leadership5.html
14. http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/
person.asp?personId=8420700&ticker=LMT:US
15. www.thegrio.com/money/made-in-america-blackowned-businesses-blaze-trails-on-our-soil.php
16. www.chrisgardnermedia.com/about/bio
17. www.blackpast.org/?q=1810-2
18. www.wisconsinhistory.org/libraryarchives/aanp/freedom/
19. www.pbs.org/blackpress/news_bios/douglass.html
20. www.promenadespeakers.com/page23.html
21. www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/elleanoreldridge-businesswoman-amid-oppression
22. www.riseandgrind.com/2010/11/25/henry-g-parks/
23. www.rhboydpublishing.com/our_company/history/
index.php
24. http://fidelisdc.com/
25. www.biography.com/people/tyra-banks16242328?page=2#reality-tv-and-other-work
26. www.thefreelibrary.com/Black+Enterprise+Issues+31st+
Annual+Report+on+America%27s+Leading...-a0101575797
Photography Locations:
Introduction: George Washington Carver Library, Austin, Texas
January: Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica, California
February: Shima Seiki U.S.A. INC., Monroe Twp., New Jersey
March: Chicago, Illinois
April: Upper Marlboro, Maryland
May: Bair Middle School, Sunrise, Florida
June: Las Vegas, Nevada
July: Carol’s Daughter,Inc., New York, New York
August: Avis Ford, Southfield, Michigan
September: California Sound Studios, Lake Forest, California
October: West Chester, Ohio
November: Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
December: New York, New York
Photography
Lou Jones Studio
Boston, Massachusetts
Special thanks to those whose effort and time
helped create this calendar:
Aetna African American Employee Resource Group
Phil Barr, Strategic Initiative
Mark Callahan, Design and Interactive Media
Miguel Centeno, Community Relations, New York
Jane Condron, Law Information
Floyd Green, Head of Community Relations
Chekesha Kidd, Head of Student Health
William Kramer, Deputy Counsel, Law and Regulatory Affairs
Will Thomas, Corporate Communications
Amy Trimani, Corporate Communications
Thomas Wynn, Print Production
To Order Calendars
Additional calendars are available for $4 each.
To order please send a check, payable to Aetna, to:
Aetna African American History Calendar
Corporate Communications, RW3H
151 Farmington Avenue
Hartford, CT 06156
Credits:
Produced by Aetna Inc.
Hartford, Connecticut
Peggy Garrity, Project Manager
Lou Jones, Photographer
Photography Assistants
Mike DeStefano
Matt Kalinowski
Bruce Lithimane
Leah Raymond
Kenneth Smoot
Printer
Allied Printing, Manchester, Connecticut
Phone: 860-273-0509
Fax: 860-273-6675
The individuals profiled in this calendar are not agents or employees of
Aetna. Aetna does not endorse any of the products of these individuals
or any product displayed.
Project Assistants
Myrna Blum
Sharon Valechko
Creative Development
The Pita Group
Rocky Hill, Connecticut
Emily Cretella, Writer
Kim Pita, Writer
Lisa Santoro, Creative Director and Designer
Nicole Stavola, Researcher
00.00.924.1 B

Celebrating innovation - 2016 Aetna African American History

Transcription

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