In 2001 Ruth Simmons was the first African American Ivy League President when she took the reins at Brown University. She has now come out of retirement to lead Prairie View A & M University near her hometown in Texas. She’s driven to continue guiding young lives just as she had been helped as a young student.
Mia Mottley, a 52-year-old lawyer, is reported to have once told a teacher at her secondary school that she would become Barbados first female PM.
That prediction became true when the Caribbean island elected her its first woman prime minister since gaining independence from Britain in 1966. Mia Mottley led her Barbados Labour Party (BLP) to a crushing victory over the Democratic Labour Party (DLP).
Ms Mottley faced a barrage of personal and political attacks from the DLP during the election campaign, but also picked up an apparent endorsement from Barbadian pop star Rihanna.
Speaking shortly after it became apparent that the BLP would form the next government, Ms Mottley told cheering supporters: "This is not my victory. This is not the Labour Party's victory. This is the people of Barbados's victory,"
Ms Mottley's new administration - like its predecessor, a broadly centre-left government - faces a host of problems in a country once seen as a byword for good governance in the Caribbean.
Despite the island's enduring popularity with tourists from Western Europe and North America, and growing arrivals from newer tourist markets like China and Russia, the Barbadian economy has failed to shrug off the effects of the global economic crisis of the late 2000s.
Sluggish economic growth, high levels of government debt and shrinking foreign currency reserves have been compounded by the adverse publicity and cancelled bookings stemming from a collapsing sewage system.
The system serves part of the country's South Coast, a key tourist area.
With enthusiastic screams of "Run Tish Run" echoing through the hall, state Democrats nominated city Public Advocate Letitia James for attorney general.
James picked up over 85% of the delegate vote to win the nomination over Fordham Law Prof. Zephyr Teachout and former Gov. Cuomo and Hillary Clinton aide Leecia Eve.
In accepting the nomination, James warned that constitutional rights are under attack in Washington and that "the attorney general stands at the vanguard as a wall of protection, not a wall of exclusion."
"I'm so proud you bestowed on me this designation because I'm well prepared for the fight ahead," she said.
James went into the convention the heavy favorite, having won the endorsement of Gov. Cuomo, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and some key labor unions.
Her candidacy fell into place quickly since the position wasn't even in play as Eric Schneiderman cruised toward a third term. But all that changed on May 7 when Schneiderman abruptly resigned in disgrace hours after New Yorker magazine released a story alleging he physically assaulted four women.
In an interview with BBC’s “Newsnight,” Steve Bannon, the former White House chief strategist cited historically low unemployment rates for black and Hispanic workers and credited the president’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
“If you look at the policies of Donald Trump, OK, anybody — Martin Luther King — would be proud of him, of what he’s done for the black and Hispanic community for jobs,” Bannon said.
In a series of tweets Bernice King, the Rev. Martin Luther King’s daughter blasted Steve Bannon’s claim that her father would be proud of President Donald Trump.
#SteveBannon has dangerously and erroneously co-opted my father’s name, work and words.
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) May 24, 2018
Bannon’s assertion that my father, #MLK, would be proud of Donald Trump wholly ignores Daddy’s commitment to people of all races, nationalities, etc. being treated with dignity and respect.
My father’s concerns were not sectional, but global. He was an activist for the civil rights of Black people in America, but he was also an activist for human rights. #MLK
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) May 24, 2018
In addition, he would never pit one group against another in the struggle for justice, as Bannon attempts to use him to do in discussing those he termed as “illegal aliens” and Black people. #MLK
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) May 24, 2018
Bannon’s comments are like feeding someone empty calories, in that they don’t convey a comprehensive view of #MLK as a global humanitarian who cared about the well-being of all people.
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) May 24, 2018
My father would be extremely disturbed by the climate created by leaders, who have emboldened people to easily express and demonstrate cruelty, predominantly toward people of color and immigrants. #MLK
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) May 24, 2018
Finally, #MLK would be proud of a livable wage for all and not merely a low unemployment rate. #PoorPeoplesCampaign
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) May 24, 2018
