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Jacqueline “JACKIE” JOYNER-KERSEE

 

This American athlete’s name should ring a bell. She’s won three gold, one silver and two bronze Olympic medals in the course of four different Olympic Games. She’s ranked among the all-time greatest athletes in women heptathlon as well as the women’s long jump. Her name is Jackie Joyner-Kersee and she has since retired but joined the Board of Directors for USA Track & Field (USATF).

Born in East St. Louis she attended East St. Louis Senior High School and later starring in both track & field and women’s basketball while attending the University of California at Los Angeles. Throughout the years she has graced various sports pages, including Sports Illustrated and honored with countless awards.

In 1986 Jackie married her track coach Bob Kersee and two years later she founded the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation. It provides athletic lessons & resources to families giving more attention to her hometown of East St. Louis.

At the 2000 track & field competition Jackie took her final bow. In 2007 various athletes joined forces and founded the ‘Athletes for Hope’. Muhammad Ali, Alonzo Mourning, Lance Armstrong and Warrick Dunn are some athletes just to name a few.

 

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DID YOU KNOW? Jackie had severe Asthma but was one of several athletes to overcome it.

For Black History Month we like to Salute Jackie Joyner-Kersee for her contributions she has given us.

Photo: Urban Crush    

Biography Singers

LENA HORNE

All Photos: Lena-Horne.com

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ena Mary Calhoun Horne was born in Brooklyn, New York on June 30, 1917. Growing up Lena bounced around from state-to-state with her mother, an unsuccessful aspiring actress. At age fourteen she left school and by sixteen she danced her way into Harlem’s Cotton Club as a chorus dancer. She also pursued singing and took lessons and after several years she found herself singing jazz for Sissle’s Society Orchestra.

 
From mid-to-end of the 1930’s era, Horne would get married, perform on Broadway and appear in her first movie role (The Duke Is Tops). She toured as lead singer for The Charlie Barnett Band, an all white band, but had to leave each club after her performances. Horne would soon leave the tour due to traveling and this racial prejudice.

 In the early 40’s- a divorce and two children later- she found herself back to singing and performing in nightclubs. At twenty-four she recorded her first record with jazz greats clarinetist Artie Shaw and trumpeter Henry Allen and soon-to-follow radio series. Horne became a sought after singer, pinup girl and movie star. When Hollywood called, she inked a seven year deal with MGM, being the highest paying African-American actress/singer of that time. Her career soared and she graced magazine covers and more movies followed. She made her MGM debut singing the title song of Stormy Weather.

 

In 1942, she played lead role in Cabin in the Sky and this is where she met Lennie Hayton, a white pianist, arranger and conductor for MGM. In 1943 she appeared in three films: I Dood It, As Thousands Cheer, and Stormy Weather. The next several years Lena appeared in film musicals and secretly married her second husband (Lennie Hayton) in 1947.

Biography Music

 

February is Black History Month and the spotlight is shining bright. We celebrate the numerous accomplishments African Americans conquered via the many walks of diversity. Take a look and journey back into the life of…undeniable greatness!   



Photo: Biography

 Berry Gordy, Jr.

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erry Gordy was born November 28, 1929 in Detroit, Michigan, the seventh of eight children. He dropped out of high school in the eleventh grade in exchange for a boxing career, which lasted until he served in the United States Army for the Korean War. After his returned from the war, he married in 1953 but it was in 1955 where he began his musical interests writing songs and later opened a jazz record store. Although his record store was unsuccessful, he later met a man who would put him in touch with a singer by the name of Jackie Wilson. That encounter gave him the opportunity to write Wilson’s first major hit, and several other songs in a two year period. Gordy would soon turn his songwriting profits into producing. He quickly began building his resume promoting unknown artists and even The Miracles (with Smokey Robinson).

In 1959 he started his own label which later merged into Motown Records. With several chart topping songs Gordy’s efforts through Motown propelled many musical talents such as Marvin Gay, Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, Smokey Robinson, The Jackson Five and a plethora of others. Not only did he work the public image of his artists, he also groomed writers and producers, with his steadfast style he later dubbed, “The Sound of Young America, The Motown Sound.” He later started producing several movies; The Wiz, Mahogany, The Last Dragon and others.

In1988, Gordy was inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of Fame but on June 28, 1988 it’s reported that he sold his interests in Motown for $61Million. Movies such as ‘Dreamgirls’, ‘The Temptations’, ‘The Five Heartbeats and ‘Sparkle’, all display a behind-the-scene portrayal of black owned music companies and their artists (a Motown-esque reflection comes to mind).

 

In 2001, Gordy established a relief fund to assist former artists from the 1960's and 70's, in the name of his late sister, Gwendolyn B. Gordy. He is a great business man who transformed a music interest into a well-oiled music machine. We acknowledge Mr. Berry Gordy for all his purposeful efforts and making an imprint on African American’s historical map. SALUTE!